


The Convenient Queen

by Nightheart



Category: Juuni Kokki | Twelve Kingdoms
Genre: A what-if tale, And the center must hold, Animeverse with book-canon thrown in, Gen, Politics, The trouble with Tai, warning; here be politicians!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-18
Updated: 2014-05-13
Packaged: 2017-11-18 22:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 94,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/565912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightheart/pseuds/Nightheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The kingdom of Tai teeters on a knife-edge, balanced between civil war and a very fragile peace. General Asen was defeated but his legacy remains; the Province Lords of the North resist the fragile Royal Authority of a moonlight court led by the Taiho and the Royal Consort, who prop up the throne in the absence of Tai's rightful ruler Gyousou Saku (who is held in spelled slumber) for the last fifty years.  It is at the eleventh hour that King Gyousou awakens and the armies of the northern shuukou, led by Asen, prepare to launch an attack on the Palace. The restoration of Royal Authority by the King, the Taiho, and the Royal Consort may be Tai's last, best hope for peace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chronicle of the Fifty Sixth Year of the Era of Vast Virtue

**Author's Note:**

> The strange brainchild of a dream I wanted to write a fanfic that stuck closer to the charm of the novels and the short stories so I took the time to do my research, hopefully it shows. I hope you all enjoy this and please take the time to tell me whether you liked it or not.

_**In the fifty-sixth year of the Era of Vast Virtue** _   
  
_**His Royal Majesty Gyousou Saku, by the Grace of Tentei King of Tai, remains bound within his spelled sleep as he has since his discovery fifty years before. To maintain what small semblence of order there is to be had within this kingdom, we yet continue to bide under the co-leadership of His Eminence the Tai Taiho, and her Grace, the Royal Consort. The Tai kirin lacks the fortitude to attend to the harsher affairs of State and affairs continue to be harsh indeed thus neccessitating the continued guidance and management of the Royal Consort.** _   
  
_**This Kingdom of tai, deprived of the leadership of his most gracious majesty walks upon the knife-edge of civil war. Out of the destruction wrought upon this kingdom by the usurper, former General Asen, has come a shakey situation. In place of the rule of the king, a court led by the co-leadership of kiring and consort has arisen. The Royal Consort is appointed by the Taiho what authority is judged neccessary to continue to stabilize the throne though she cannot, of course, rule outright in place of the king. Her authority to act is limited and she cannot assume certain imperial perogatives, such as the right to appoint new officials or fire ones that are corrupt or less than useful. Thus the imperial court remains riddled with corrupt officials, though Her Grace has managed to isolate those officials over time and put them to tasks that will not harm the daily running of the kingdom. His Eminence, the Taiho, of course is against her suggestion of dropping them all down the side of the mountain. Her Grace notes (of her solution to the problem) that it is fortunate there are so very many situations in Tai that require a great delay rather than an immediate action, as it gives her leave to appoint those corrupt and useless officials to as many committees as will keep them from doing real harm. "Committes are indispensible when you don't actually want anything done," she has been known to say in private.** _   
  
_**The Provinces under Golden Rule, as taken from thier previous shuukou by the Royal Consort in the seventh year of the current era, are stable and continue to prosper. The Ministry of Winter reports that in every aspect of living, from economy to employment, the people gather all of the blessings of stability and prosperity that the Taiho and Royal Consort are able to provide. The Northern Provinces, under the rule of the rebellious shuukou appointed by the usurper, continue to exceed their mandated allotments of Provincial Troops. The shuukou continue to augment thier increases in troop size by selling the gems produced by the mines overseas and since the army cannot be taxed they elude paying as much as thirteen percent of the tax revenue owed the crown. Her Grace has had some success in limiting the size of the troop movements by cutting off all official gem trade to the other kingdoms and relying on the other marketable goods to augment the needed income of Tai.** _   
  
_**Trade in some of the newer products Her Grace has found or created new foreighn markets for has encouraged a growth in production and industry in the southern Provinces. Tai's main has traditionally been gems but difficulties witht eh gems springs persist even to this day, neccessitating the exploration and cultivation of other options... options which has led to an increase in jobs due to the need for skilled labor for increased production. Those products have sold better than the Ministry of Winter had at first predicted they would. Water-silk and sap-glass, cheaper to produce than thier guild-run counterparts, support a growing southern population and economy. The Ministry of Earth continues to express concern over the population-shift from the north to the job-markets and better economy available in the southern provinces under Golden Rule. To which her Grace replies that she is interested in a stable realm and not desirous that the citizens of Tai should be caught in the crossfire should those northern shuukou decide that make good on their threats and march thier armies upon the capitol.** _   
  
_**While the economies of the south improve, the Youma are still a problem and are being dealth with by bands of liscenced youma slaying companies as well as the thinly-spread provincial armies. The solution His Eminence the Tai Taiho proposed for the slaying of Youma in the Twelfth Year of the current era still seems to be holding fast, for the Youma population is down, but while His majesty remains unable to assume the throne due to his current condition, the problem will never truly be able to solve itself. The Northern shuukou continue to be a pernicious threat to Her Grace's health as this chronicaler is certain that the last three assassination attempts made in this year alone were intitated on the orders of at least one of those shuukou. Her Grace is all that stands between the power-hungry lords of the north and thier desire to turn the soft-hearted Taiho into thier puppet to rule the kingdom through while Tai's king remains trapped in bound sleep.** _   
  
_**Though this realm is, for the time being, stable, His Majesty is greatly missed, and not only for the fact that his presence is sure to bring about an end to this interminable series of proxy-wars waged via economic and political manuvering. His Majesty's strength and compassion, his unwavering dedication to the health and prosperity of this kingdom, all of these are remembered by those officials who managed to last out the horrible reign of terror that general Asen performed upon the land before he was ousted by an armed confederacy of the armies of Kei En (and the remainder of Tai's forces) led by the royal Consort on the Taiho's orders in the seventh year of the Era of Vast Virtue. It is in every prayer being said by ever citizen of tai from highest to lowerst this New Year that His majesty may soon wake and restore Tai to it's full and rightful glory under the eyes of Heaven.** _   
  
_**Chronicler of Tai.** _


	2. In Loco Imperator (In Place of the Emperor)

: _Intransigent, bloody **stubborn** northern lords!_ : Yuka thought to herself as she pulled off the shenyi of heavy silk with gold embroidery she wore to court over the back of a nearby chair for the room servants to do something with later and threw herself onto her bed in nothing but the light silk zhongyi. comfortable for perhaps the first time since she'd woken that day. The clothes she wore even under the formal robe would have been put on display in a museum or an art gallery, Yuka found them only somewhat less stifling than the normal rigamarole she was required to wear. Not for the first time she thought,

 : _If I had known it was going to be like **this** , I would certainly not have been so eager to pick a fight with Youko over the throne of Kei!_:

 That little incident was long decades in the past and her present was not something Yuka had ever seriously thought her life would be like. She was _supposed_ to be an old granny, with tons of children and grandchildren of her own, but instead she was in the rather unenviable position of having to prop the throne up from the inside. Thier prop was a jury-rigged string of contingencies, loopholes and make-do's that even now seemed like they relied more on prayers and the mercy of Heaven than actual law.

 : _And how did I find myself in the center of this mess?_ : she thought rhetorically with an edge of annoyed bitterness. : _Oh that's right, it turns out I have a soft spot for Kirin and signing my life away!_ :

 Ever since she'd had that late-night conversation with Taiki, Yuka had felt so sad for him that she simply been unable to bring herself to sit still about it. Oh _no_ , she'd had to go and get herself _involved_ , had to go getting close to him, and care for him (in a strictly platonic sense). When Yuka found that there was something she wanted, even if it wasn't for herself, she generally found ways of getting it done. It had been no different in that case.

:Getting Kaname over to this world was a relative cinch, since the kirin of En had been actively looking for him,: Yuka thought, reflecting about the past to herself as she carefully started to remove the fancy hairsticks from her stiff court coiffure.

 : _Though compared to all the nonsense I face in the royal court every day, finding Kaname's stupid king was the easy part!_ :

 The shouku had stranded the two of them in the Province of Ba in Tai with little to get by on and the weather just turning from winter to spring. The winters in Tai, it turned out, were nothing to laugh at, and they extended farther into the year than she was accustomed. Still, the two of them had managed to land on their feet; Yuka had a skill in the form of proficiency with a musical instrument (and could make some small money busking for coins) Kaname had his own skill as an artist so they'd been able to travel freely from place to place. Traveling _safely_ , however, had been another matter. There had been youma everywhere. The "adventures" (and by that Yuka meant life-threatening situations and dangerous alliances) they'd had in orienting on the place where the usurper to the throne had hidden the king could fill a book.

 : _It's a good thing that Taiki has his magical "king-sensing" ability, or we'd have been up a creek without a paddle_ ,: Yuka thought.

 Finding Gyousou Saku had been the easy part. Matters became a great deal more complicated _after_ the king was "rescued".

 : _What good's a king that can't rule his kingdom. Damn Asen for being so clever!_ :

 Once they had liberated the king from where Asen had hidden him, they discovered the extent of the difficulty they faced. Asen had used a Chyoukoku, some kind of half-youma _thing_ that, much like a hinma, wrapped itself around inside of a person's body. It was actually a sort of parasite that fed on life-energy. It drained its host of all the energy needed for active functions but kept it alive in a state of coma.

: _And Chyoukoku do not possess a mortal lifespan, they are able to live as long as the host body lives. That damned clever Asen was able to see the possible advantage of this, If the host body is immortal then so would the Cyoukoku_ ,: Yuka thought with an inward shudder of dismay at the memory of them having received the bad news.

Conceivably, that parasite could have kept draining the king of Tai forever, keeping him alive but in a coma until Tai was consumed by ruin. To remove the thing by force had not been an option sadly, it would kill the host and _anyone connected to_ that host. While Yuka might have been just _barely_ willing to sacrifice the king in order to save the kirin (Kaname could choose another after all) killing Gyousou would have killed her friend and she had not (and would _never_ have) been willing to risk it.

 : _But doing nothing woud have kept the usurper on the throne_.:

 It had been a dicey situation in a lot of ways. The Royal Tai was stuck in suspended animation by a usurper who was as immortal as the man who'd granted his immortality, the only person able to revoke that immortality had been unable to do so as a result of being stuck in suspended animation. A real catch twenty-two.

 : _Asen really had everyone by the short and curlies_ ,: Yuka though in irritated admiration for her former enemy.

 Naturally, after they (they being Yuka, Kaname, Youko and her coalition of kings from other nations) had discovered Gyousou's state, they had tried everything they could think of to reverse it. At first, they'd thought that the Hekisoujo, the royal jewel of Kei that healed anything might get rid of the parasite, but it had been ineffective because it did not read the parasite as a being a wound to be healed (she supposed). They'd even hauled Gyousou's unconscious royal carcass to Mt. Hou but the Oracle of the Jasper Mists, Lady Gyoukuyou had been unable to remove the Chyoukoku from him. She had offered a _slight_ hope however... she couldn't kill it, but she could _change_ it. The powerful entity (Yuka couldn't think of someone able to work such powerful magic as being human, no matter what outside form she wore) changed the Chyoukoku feeding on Gyousou's energy so that it would have a life-cycle that resembled a butterfly. It would live inside of a host, feeding of its life energies for only so long, then it would metamorphose into something else and leave its cocoon.

 : _Of course, that didn't really help us or Tai right then!_ : Yuka thought in remembered frustration.

 The life cycle of Choukyouku's larval state was roughly half a century. Even _with_ her powerful magic, it seemed that there was only so much Gyoukuyou could do. Tai would not last that long under Ansen's care, and Taiki could not choose a new king while his leige yet lived (and again, allowing said king to die would kill the kirin in this case). So they had done the logical thing and set up plans to retake the throne of Tai in Gyousou's name.

 : _Up until that point, I'm sure that no-one had ever once dreamed of putting a kirin, a creature of benevolence and pacifism, at the head of an army, even figuratively_!:

 Poor Kaname had known, even when it was brought up, that he would be physically _incapable_ of being around all of the blood and violence that would ensue in a messy re-coup like the one that the King of En knew would be necessary to reclaim Tai. So he had asked Yuka and Risai to go in his place.

 : _It was to be my second time restoring a throne, I remember how foolishly eagre I was to prove myself a good and loyal friend to poor Kaname, whom fate had been so unkind to_.:

She's felt so sorry for him. Back then reaching out to other people and trying to empathize had been a bit of a new thing for her. Yuka always been something of a lone wolf, happier reading her books than interacting socially so having a real friend that she wanted to help and be there for had been something of a novelty for her.

: _Risai was all set to lead the coalition of Youko's and the Ever-King of En's forces straight into Tai and start pruning away Asen's Army_!:

 However, Heaven had interceded in the most inconvenient of ways. It was against the Laws of Heaven for any king to lead his army into another kingdom, no matter how justified he or she was. The only exception was that a king could _loan_ his army to the king of another kingdom (as En had to Youko in order to depose the usurper Jyoei the first time Yuka had traveled to the Twelve Kingdoms), but that king _had_ to be in the lead.

: _Taiki was physically and spiritually incapable of going into battle so **he** could not lead the army, not without serious risk to himself on many levels_,: Yuka remembered. : _And the Royal Tai was out of commission!_ :

At the time it had seemed like Asen's scheme had an answer for everything they might try to defeat him and that Tai was out of luck and out of time...

 : _I'm still not sure that the Ever-letch did anyone any favors with his solution though_.:

The King of En had found a loophole in one of the history texts in the Royal Library at Shadowlore palace. In the early days of the Kingdom of Sou, he'd explained with a bright smile, the then-Royal Sou had been incapacitated and there had been huge civil insurrection by an embittered rival turned enemy. The army of Sou had been annihilated and it looked like the insurrection against the crown would be successful, but the Royal Sou's consort had journeyed to Kou at the behest of the Sou Taiho to beg the aid of the Royal Kou and the use of his armies. The Royal Sou' consort had consulted Heaven's will on the matter, and Heaven had decreed that her use of another army in defense of her homeland and husband was allowable in Heaven's eyes. The insurrection had been defeated and the rightful throne restored. The Royal Sou and his wife had ruled in harmony for three hundred years.

 They had not, at first, seen the use of his particular example for Gyousou Saku was not married. There was no Royal Consort they could use to head the army, and they _still_ could not ask Taiki to do it since it was near-physically impossible that Taiki, the kirin of Tai, could handle being around that much bloodshed.

"Ah, but there's another loophole!" En had said with devious smile.Yuka had felt her guard go up even then with that false disarming charm of his, as they said in the north "tender baby chicks know a weasel when they see one."

In the instances where a king might be incapacitated by injury or illness, the Taiho was the one who ran the inner palace and attended to rites. The Taiho also had the authority to manage matters in his liege's House and family. Technically, _he_ could perform the marriage rite on his kings' behalf. With the Taiho presiding, the king and his bride could undergo a proxy-marriage, essentially, there would be a stand-in.

 : _To this day I still recall how every single damn royal face in that room looked down the table right at me!_ : Yuka thought irritatedly.

 During their search for Gyousou, and the search for a cure that ensued their discovery of his state, Yuka had proven herself time and again. She _managed_ _situations_. The girl who'd been bullied in class and shut everyone out to pursue her interest in literature had never imagined herself in a situation where she would have to handle people, but being on the outside looking in all of the time had given her a great deal of insight as to how people worked. She enjoyed intellectual games of strategy. In school she'd been able to get by with an aloof manner and an ability to keep her mouth shut, but when it came down to figuring out the intricacies of politics and personality types and the complex interweaving of alliances and advantage (and finding a way to use them to her advantage,) Yuka was a strategy player with plus fifty intelligence.

 : _Now I sort of wish I hadn't proven myself quite so reliable_!: Yuka thought.

 It had been decided that a person with intelligence and acumen (if not experience), proven fearlessness in battle, and a great deal of loyalty to Taiki personally was just the sort of person who would make a _perfect_ prop for the throne.

: _I still think they should have made Risai do it. She's closer to his age and had battle experience_.:

The King of En (and surprisingly, Youko, who, Yuka would have thought would have agreed with her about the inappropriateness of it) had argued that while Risai was an excellent woman and an experienced and capable general, she lacked the cunning and acumen necessary to maneuver in the political arena.

Yuka had tried to protest the appointment, naturally, but Taiki had given her that puppy-eyed look and begged her to help his king. Yuka, a sucker for kirin in general and _him_ in particular had agreed to take one for the team... or kirin. She'd sworn to him that she would help him hold his kingdom together in such a way that it would be so stable that Heaven would have no cause for complaints (or to put poor Kaname under shitsudo, more importantly).

 With Kaname presiding over the rite and Youko, Rakushun, Enki and Keiki as witnesses, Yuka was married by proxy (with a pervy King of En as the royal stand-in) to Gyousou Saku and made Royal Consort to the King of Tai.

 :A girl's supposed to think of her wedding day as the happiest day of her life... All I recall about mine was the impatience to get it over with so that I could go liberate a kingdom so that my friend would not die.:

 Her wedding clothes had been the armor she planned to wear into battle.

Their reclaiming of the kingdom of Tai had not been _nearly_ so decisive as Youko's had been. For one thing, the usurper was better armed and a lot more savvy about military strategy. Youko's usurper had only been a cloth-merchant's daughter who was being propped on the throne by the King of Kou and his armies. Also, Jyoei had been on the throne for _maybe_ a year or two, at best. Asen was a general equal to the famous king of Tai (perhaps his superior since he had, in fact, _succeeded_ in ousting his rival from the throne). Furthermore he had had a few years to put all of his pieces into place; to purge the military of commanders loyal to the king and put his own soldiers in place, to destroy the royal court, to replace all of the provincial governors with men loyal to himself rather than the crown.

 The Royal Palace had held out for three days, the capitol city took a month longer to recapture seeing as they had to try to go easy on the populace. Yuka was the figurehead at the army for the duration and her education in military strategy quickly went from theoretical to practical. Sadly, getting the palace and capitol city of Kouki under control was only the beginning. Asen "dropped his tail" like a lizard when he gathered his remaining forces and ran to the next province over, calling on that provincial governor's army to aid and protect him.

 : _If fighting an army wasn't bad enough_ ,: Yuka remembered. : _The kingdom was **crawling** with Youma!_ :

 A number of casualties during the first winter war of the Tai's little reconquista were due to Youma attacks. In a series of battles they managed to "crush" the provincial army (many of the common-rank soldiery decided they'd rather lay down thier arms and surrender to the rightful rule of Heaven than to continue fighting) and Asen fled again to the next province over and stir up their troops to start the whole thing over again.

 : _Yeah, that was **not** happening!_ : Yuka thought, still smiling a little to that day at the way she and Taiki had outmaneuvered the little bastard.

 The usurper had clearly set things up so that he could sustain a guerrilla warfare by hopping from province to province, raising the local troops and making a further nuisance of himself. Yuka was more wiling to pursue the diplomatic route. She had reasoned that, due to human nature, a wealthy person in power would want to _keep_ that wealth and power. Any honest general would say that armies were expensive things to field. Thus, supporting an army would cut into the wealth that the provincial lords wanted to enjoy once they were given their rank and titles. There was a war strategy that said "make allies far away and attack nearby" that had been applicable. Yuka had approached the other provincial lords surrounding the province that Asen had fled to with an under-the-table deal. Deny thier patron the aid he wanted (the aid he had put them into place to secure!) and they'd get to keep their palaces and positions. If they chose to harbor a fugitive, she could execute them on sight when she found them. To be perfectly frank, Yuka had had no choice but to deliver that ultimatum. Her powers as the consort were, in fact, quite limited. She could act as a diplomat, and perform offices to which she had been officially appointed by her lord-husband or his taiho (by proxy) but she could not exercsize actual royal authority, such as firing a provincial governor and appointing a new one. That was an _imperial_ prerogative.

 : _Which is how this poor kingdom became the  massive diplomatic clusterfuck it is today_ ,: Yuka thought.

 Asen had certainly gone down swinging. He was a military strategist the likes of which Yuka only read about in books. Even without meeting him face to face, Yuka could tell by the way he set up his skirmishes that he was very intelligent. She honestly couldn't claim to be any smarter than he was, but he had one weakness that she had been able to exploit. A general of the armies, the man did not seem to even consider the effectiveness of the use of a Navy. The ships on this world were primarily used for _trade_ , not fighting; the closest thing they had to a Navy was really more akin to a coast guard. Still, Risai and Yuka were able to herd enough of Asen's major forces to battlefields that were on or near the coastline for them to make a massive sneak attack on land using amphibious warfare tactics, This, combined with the largest airstrike from the kuukoushi (the air force) they could coordinate.

Unfortunately for Yuka's peace of mind, when they at last had the source of all of their troubles in custody, they could not execute him. His immortality could only be revoked by the rightful king, and Taiki begged for leniency on Asen's behalf. Yuka's authority to act was less than Taiki's even with what would become a co-leadership of the imerial court, so there were places where she had to make concessions. With her hands tied, she expediently suggested his exile on the rock-island prison on the Isle of Nen. If they let him run free, even exiled to another kingdom, the man would only have tried to continue his plans, and since those plans included Kaname eventually undergoing shitsudo...

 : _He had to go_.:

 When she had agreed to act on Taiki's behalf at the head of the armies of Kei and En to liberate Tai from the usurper, she had sworn much more than a mere acting captaincy. She had sworn that she was in it for the duration. If Tai continued on the ruinous course it had taken under the usurper then the Emperor of Heaven would without a doubt declare the current rule insufficient, Tentei would decide the Taki's king, Gyousou, had lost the Way and must be removed from office. Taiki would undergo shitsudo. Yuka had crossed over with the express purpose of preventing that. Never again under her watch would another kirin (let alone her close friend!) undergo shitsudo. Yuka would do all in her power to prevent it.

 : _And in this case, preventing it meant repairing the damage Asen did to this poor kingdom. Stabilizing the economy, the government, and restoring the military to a strength that would enable them to start working on Tai's youma problem_.:

 All of that would have to be done with the limited powers that she and Taiki shared between them. They could act on behalf of the emperor with certain authorities granted them, but they could _not_ take the place of the king.

  _:It would not have been nearly so difficult if Asen had not purged the royal court of damn near every single capable minister in the place!_ :

 Not to mention, the kingdom was bankrupt. They had also been (and still were) stuck with shuukou, provincial governors, whose only real interest was in mining the gemstone springs and gold springs in their provinces and selling the precious materials to line their own pockets.

 : _And of course, any traitor who will turn his back on his patron, will just as easily turn against the next leader in line_.: Yuka thought with remembered irritation for the whole mess.

 Not a scant year after Asen's exile, Yuka had just barely managed to capture and deport the last of Asen's military supporters to an island prison-mine off the coast of Tai, when the provincial governors of Sui, Ran, Ki and Chou Provinces in the south section of Tai had gathered their own armies and descended on Whitejewel Palace with the intention of coercing the taiho into being their puppet. Yuka, fed up with their non-sense decided that their little usurper-party should be brought down from the inside.

 : _After all, alliances of that nature last only as long as alliances **can** last... that is, until one side sees an advantage_.:

 She had heard from Youko that there was actually a song about the way Tai's Royal Consort had waited at the front steps of the imperial palace in her finest gown for the four leaders of the revolt to descend like vultures, ready to pick at the carcass of the remains of Royal Authority. She'd prepared a feast for them before the empty throne of her "husband" and the four of them, seeing her as meek, compliant young girl, had let thier guard down. Each Province Lord had fancied himself the one who would gain control over the royal court by controlling the Royal Consort and Taiho.

 To this day she still mentally called that time "The Winter of the Wolves." Sowing dissension and discord among her guests in the fertile ground of their mutual mistrust of each other had been the most fun she'd had since the wars had started.

 : _The limited powers of my position wouldn't even let me sentence them to execution for treason_ ,: Yuka thought. : _I couldn't even reappoint them, for that is a kings prerogative and doesn't even belong to the Taiho. Fortunately for me, there is one specific rule that gave me just enough of a loophole to take care of the problem with those shuukou personally._ :

 The four southern shuukou who had taken over the Royal palace had all been men of a certain type; interested soley in thier own pleasures. Those interests being wine, food and debauchery. It had only been a matter of time before thier eyes fell on the pretty and vulnerable young Royal Consort. As Yuka had known they would, each Shuukou's thoughts inevitably turned to the idea that if they could make her _his_ woman, then all of her Royal Consort authority would be his for the using. Unfortunately for them, the penalty for laying hands on a woman of her rank was a good deal more than a mere slap on the wrists and a lecture. Yuka had the right to challenge them to combat in order to defend her honor. She had won, and when the time to make the kill-strike had come, she had not hesitated.

 No matter that he knew it was necessary, Kaname had censured Yuka for it, believing that she should have acted with greater mercy and simply exiled them as she had done with Asen and his military supporters. There was already a rule in place under Heaven to cover contingency of a Provincial Governor dieing and the king either choosing not to (or in the case of Tai, not being able to) appoint another so Yuka and Taiki had not had to worry about treading on any divine toes or imperial prerogatives. If a province should lack a governor then by default it fell under the jurisdiction of the Saiho, which was another word for the Taiho (Yuka was still a bit fuzzy about the distinction other than that Taiho seemed to be more like an official honorific title). This was called "being under Golden Rule". So when she killed the four southern Shuukou in a duel over her honor and there was no king to appoint a new governor, she simply let it fall to the default setting of Golden Rule and she and Taiki had  "appointed" (they couldn't actually appoint, but had sent them as "temporary agents to act on the Taiho's behalf") four new governors for the southern provinces. With the taming of the four southern province's added on to their control over Zui province (which belonged to the Taiho by custom and law) half of the kingdom was back under imperial rule.

: _But half is by no means all of the kingdom, there's still the north to contend with!_ :

The northern lords of Ba, Bun, Ie and  Jou provinces had hung back when the four lords from the South had moved to take over the palace, likely to see which way the wind blew and probably so that they could amass their own forces to take over the palace from then when the right moment arrived.

 : _The problem is, its awfully difficult to get leverage on a group of people who have no shame and whom I cannot actually officially punish, or reappoint_.:

 Thus had started a series of diplomatic and economic mini-wars between the four northern shuukou and Yuka. It was a war where her enemy held nearly all of the better weapons, but Yuka had a few trump cards she could play and thus far she had played them well. For instance, the only province in the north that was self-sufficient in providing its own food was Jou Province, the largest of them, the rest relied on the money brought in from selling the products of its gem-springs to purchase stores for the winter. It had taken some work but fortunately what was needed to be done to bring those stubborn lords to heel also fell in with her plans to create a more diversified export market for Tai (which relied nearly entirely on the export of gold and precious gems).

 Yuka had improved the infrastructure of the south provinces (a tale in and of itself) so that transportation of materials between provinces would aid in export for foreign trade. Most provinces, aside of Bun, had their own ports so any gold or gems that were grown (rather than mined like on her world) could be exported directly from nearby. Yuka's ultimate plans lay in driving those northern home-ports out of business, forcing the shuukou of the northern provinces to send their goods to her southern ports due to higher trade-traffic. As such she'd ordered the construction not just of new infrastructure but also new ports in the southern provinces, ones with superior and more efficient facilities.

  _:After all, a captain will sooner take his ship to a place where he does not have to languish at anchor in the harbor waiting for a port to open up rather than wait for days possibly just to get a larger supply of the gems. Captains rely on getting thier good quickly from place to place, and a shorter off-loading and loading time means more money faster for them_.:

 She'd also worked on finding new markets for other things that Tai produced but did not export in great quantity in order to boost the economies of the provinces loyal to the crown. In addition to that, discovering or inventing new materials and creating markets for them also meant new jobs and a more stable economy. Tai now exported a material made from tree-sap that was sort of like plastic or plexiglass. It used to make windows that were less expensive than the near-ruinously expensive glass windows. They also exported a fabric made from a fibrous, slightly gooey plant that, if treated correctly became waterproof (it was in demand at home as well since Tai spent so much of its time with snow on the ground and waterproof coat were a boon in the snow). Ran Province produced exquisite dyes from the few ex-gem springs in that province that were exported via Sui province to Kei where Youko's countrymen used them on their textiles. The shift in job-markets to the south had resulted in a predictable population shift.

 : _Those northern lords got so used to their precious stones being such a hot commodity that they completely overlooked the draw and appeal of new things on the market! Heh, in teh words of teh kitteh; "Ai iz at yur ports, stealin' yur trades!"_ :

 She had also known that if Tai was to be successful as a trading nation, it needed better infrastructure. The roads in Tai when she and Taiki took back control of the imperial palace had not only been crawling with bandits and youma, they had been in terrible condition as well. The harsh winters had combined with the lack of maintenance since the rightful king had been displaced combined to make the roads all but useless for traveling overland. A nation that depended on trade unable to get its goods to port for export in a timely fashion would be crippling. Unfortunately the imperial coffers were all but bare and repairing roads was a lengthy and laborious process requiring a great deal of labor, resources and money that Tai did not have. Yuka wanted a less expensive and more useful shortcut. For a long time they hadn't been able to come up with anything... however a chance remark by Kaname had given her the _ah-ha_! moment she needed to come up with a way to save Tai's coffers and infrastructure all in one stroke. He had remarked on the winters being perfect for skiing and it had been the mention of the sport that had jogged loose the picture of the ski-lifts used for transportation up mountains in winter.

 Careful planning and an ingenious corps of engineers hired from En and Ryuu by the Ministry of Winter had attacked the various problems with building the cable gondola system. There was slope to be adjusted for (a gradient for safe travel over the system could not exceed thirty degrees, but that was dealt with by changing the height of many of the suspension towers. The towers themselves had to be carefully designed to withstand the terrible winters in Tai, dangers of snow-storms and avalanches and wind-shear to be dealt with. Plus the testing the appropriate metal for the cable itself, they could not have a metal that would be too brittle in Tai's bitter cold. Then there was testing the system for weight-bearing, and then deciding on the routes, and many other matters. The skyways had a chain of cars like a gondola, but they rested thier wight on two cables hung on either side of the cars and rode over (sort of like a train) by special wheels. The cars were moved by another cable on the top that was connected to an old fashioned bull-roarer, or a large wheel that was set sideways, the spin powered by an oversized "hampster wheel" run by large, healthy horses. Cables were supported periodically by slightly smaller arch-towers (for stability) and there were stations at periodic intervals for ease of maintenance and so that the horses running the wheels didn't get over-tired by having to "pull" a load for too long a distance.

 : _Best of all, the system essentially pays for itself, and we have a way to get not only goods, but news and imperial relief and aid to about any province in the network in a matter of days!_ : Yuka thought with a pardonable feeling of pride. If she was remembered for nothing else, she would be proud if history would remember her for this. She really, really wanted to take a ride on the skyway just once!

 On the third year of there being fewer people to work the gem-springs up north Yuka had struck at the northern lords with her next right hook. She'd cut off the gem-trade with Han. It was a gamble; Tai had already been bankrupt, and her recent transportation restructuring campaigns, while free in terms of man-power (she had plenty of prisoners to work with, though she and Taiki had went round and round about it) had strained Tai's already slender resources almost to the breaking point. Han was the biggest purchaser of the gemstones and gold that Tai was so well known for and it was still a major source of income... unfortunately it was a major source of income for her "enemies" (though technically they were all supposed to be on the same side) so Yuka had reluctantly sealed off the gem-trade and began her economic stranglehold on the Northern Provinces. Naturally they looked for other markets for their gems but Yuka had pursued an expansionist policy when it came to foreign trade so any port city that was able to receive their gems, Yuka already had a rather large foothold in.

 : _And by foothold, I mean spies_...:

 She knew pretty much who sold what where and for how much, so she was able to make certain deals with certain interested parties to get certain other parties interested in acquiring stones to take their interests elsewhere... or else. It wasn't perfect by any means and there was still the black market to contend with, but the northern shuukou were feeling the hurt. Word from her spies was, they were missing their luxuries. Their people were all slowly shifting down to the south of Tai in provinces where the economy was stable and there were more jobs. Yuka was greatly concerned about the population shift and what it could mean for the future. She rather hoped that the king might know what to do about that when he woke up. For now, she was working on her latest salvo in the eternal economic and diplomatic wars with the northern shuukou.

 : _They know better than to attack me and Taiki outright_ ,: Yuka thought in frustration.

 They knew that if they led an insurrection against her or tried to coerce her or Taiki directly, she would be perfectly justified (and perfectly happy) to release the military on them and replace them with more temporary governors who were amenable to her advice. So they were stuck in this diplomatic mire in which no-one really won. It was a constant series of political skirmishes between them. She lacked the authority to oust them permanently or punish them officially and they knew it so she was forced to resort to coercive measures. Any lever that was powerful enough to make them react also had an effect on every person under them. Yuka had done her best to get the helpless civilian population out of the way of thier fight, so the flow of emigrants headed to the south for better jobs and opportunities Yuka often thought of as being more like refugees trying to flee out of a battlefield.

 : _At least the youma problem is being taken care of!_ :

 She had received numerous complaints from En and Kei (Ryuu seemed to have its own concerns) about the influx of Youma from Tai (and since they had so kindly married her into the royal family could she please do something about making them less of a nuisance for everyone?). Tai had a new career path, the hunter-warriors. She'd even set up a guild. The crown would pay so much per head per different kind of monster. It wasn't perfect, but sadly, the military could not always be spared to hunt youma as much as Yuka would have liked.

 : _But it is a trade-off_ ,: She thought with a wry smile of amusement. : _These adventuring youma-hunters are civilians and don't have the same discipline as an officer in the military, and though the guild produces a large number of heroes it also produces its share of drunken disorderlies._ :

 Fortunately for her, that was usually a problem to be handled by the local judiciary.

 : _I suppose, all things totalled, it could be worse_ ,: she reminded herself to be optimistic. : _After all, Taiki's **not** undergoing shitsudo, and that's my main objective, so I must be doing something right.:_

 It seemed that even though the running of the kingdom was unorthodox, it was at least stable enough that the Tentei of this world had spared poor Kaname.

 : _I just wish that stupid king would wake the hell up!_ : she thought impatiently.

 It was a plaint that had worn thin with the passage of time. Yuka thought that there probably wasn't a day that went by that she did not wish that the damn Chyoukoku would come out of chrysalis  and leave its host so he could get back on his throne and run his kingdom like he was supposed to!

 : _I'm not supposed to be doing this job, I;m not even really supposed to be here! I should be old and married with ten kids and a hundred grandkids by now. I should be knitting them sweaters or whatever it is grannies spend their time on!_ :

 But _no_. Here she was stuck inside of the imperial palace every day, forced to maneuver around power-hungry lords who could not be put in their place, and economic troubles she could do little more than manipulate, and a constant sad, weary people she lacked the power to even comfort.

She often envied Youko; if Youko had difficulties _she,_ at least, had the option of being _proactive_ about them. If a member of her nobility was giving her trouble, she could summon the recalcitrant noble and stand him before her on the carpet to either dress him down or fire his ass. She could make decrees about a situation as she saw fit. She could even go out and investigate matters herself, leaving her throne in the capable hands of her Taiho and her loyal court. By contrast, Yuka was forced by her rank and the situation in the kingdom to stay inside the palace.

  _:I feel like Taiki and I are the Penelope and Telemachus to his Odysseus_ ,: Yuka thought with a small smile.

 She had taken a walk to help alleviate her lingering frustration with having to unravel yet another knot created by the provincial governors of the northern provinces and her feet had drawn her to the emperors chamber where she knew that Taiki would be.

 : _He's so devoted to his king, I know its a kirin's nature to be happy around thier ruler... I hope for his sake that this king he loves so much is worth it. If he's a useless fellow, I'll skin him._ : Yuka promised herself.

 At any time when they were not at court or dealing with the affairs of the realm, Taiki came to the emperors chamber in Seiden Palace, where they had put the king to sleep out his chrysalis in peace. And because this was the place where her friend Taiki could be found, Yuka was as familiar with the chamber and the bedside of the sleeping king as her friend was.

 As usual, Kaname sat in a chair next to the bed, slumped over onto his side, curled up next to his liege. Yuka picked up a nearby throw blanket, pushed over an ottoman and gently straightened her friends limbs and covered him up. She knew of his prefference for sleeping next to the person he loved most in the world, and if she couldn't support him in what made him happiest then there was no point to her being there at all.

 : _Hurry and wake up_ ,: Yuka thought at the sleeper with a sigh. : _He's waiting for you to wake up. We all are_.:


	3. dum vita est spes est (while there's life, there's hope)

Yuka bent to the table right beside the bed and cupped her hand around the candle burning there to illuminate the room. Out of habit she glanced out of the corner of her eye at the man she had spent so many years helping without ever having once spoken to him. Even in sleep he seemed a stern sort of man, his features seemed like they were given more to serious frowns than to laughter... but given the previous king's predelection for levity (and the bankruptcy it led to) perhaps he was what Tai needed. Yuka had only his reputation and what other people who knew him had said about him to frame a judge of him with, and that made her uneasy. She liked to form her own impressions. Taiki had told her often about him, how he was a virtuous man who saw deeply into people and situations.

 : _To give him credit, what few retainers managed to escape the purge Asen set on them are fanatically loyal to him, so I guess there must be something good about him._ :

 Yuka's own feelings about him were mixed. If it hadn't been for him she would never have met Taiki, and Yuka felt that her life and her ability to see ethical and moral actions had been improved by that. Certainly Taiki had become her true heart-friend, she wasn't in love with the kirin but she did love him and was loyal to him like no other. On the other hand however, if the man had not been outfoxed by his rival and gotten into the situation, (no matter that it was not his fault) Tai would be a better place. Kaname would not have spent these many long years in a state of wistful mourning, the people would most likely not have suffered as greatly, and she herself would not have had to deal with the royal nonsense day in and day out.

 : _When he wakes up, I may have to hit him,_ : Yuka decided. : _I don't care whether this mess is not his fault really, he's the cause of it and I'm tired and cranky from dealing with it!:_

 She already knew that she probably wouldn't do anything of the sort, but she did know one thing... when that man was well enough to sit on his throne again Yuka was buggering the hell out of the palace!

 : _Ah, freedom..._ : Yuka thought wistfully.

 As much as Taiki wanted his king to wake up because he missed him, Yuka wanted him to wake up for another reason. She wanted out of there! She had been cooped up in the palace dealing with coups, and diplomats, merchant princes, and corrupt officials and all manner of things (plus all of the lessons in court ettequite she'd had to master secretly to keep up the appearance of a royal consort) for the last five decades. The palace was large but Yuka knew every inch of it by then and it simply was not big enough for her. She wanted the world. She wanted the freedom to go and see all of the places she had had dealngs with over the years. She wanted a break from the endless stress of court and the political manuverings.

 : _I need a vacation!_ : she thought, not for the first time.

 She had it all planned out too, in her head. She was going to see the seaside, visit an onsen, watch a play, go shopping, go tour the port-cities she'd ordered constructed, take a ride on a skyway and that was only in Tai. She wanted to visit Youko, whom she had kept up a very lively correspondence with. She'd advised the queen to use fashion to boost her kingdoms economy by creating Houses that sold names and held shows to display thier work for every season, and now Kei was the Paris, the Milan, of this world and quite wealthy because of it. Yuka wanted to go shopping for fashinable clothes rather than the court uniform she had to wear everyday. Sure it was an exuisite peice of cloth art, made even more beautiful by her and Taiki's combined tatses, but after fifty years of it it was as boring as a school uniform for her. And of course she wanted to visit En for the wonderful libraries and bookshops they had there. Yuka was a bookworm from before she'd crossed over to that world, and she still loved to read. And there was also the port in Han, which she had heard wonderful things about, she'd heard that there were all manner curiosities there and she wanted to see them for herself. And then there was Ren, which Kaname had told her about from his previous visit. It was supposed that there were wonderful beaches there and Yuka had always wanted to try surfing.

 :T _here's so many things I want to do and see and try!_ : Yuka thought with impatient excitement. : _I wish this guy would hurry up and wake up so I can get out of here and live a real life for a change!_ :

 Yuka looked over at him, sleeping as soundly as ever. The king of Tai was an immortal, so regardless of how much time had passed, as long as he remained in his position as king nad Taiki did not get sick, then he would remain unchanged. By extension, when Yuka had been married to him (even by proxy) and Taiki had put her name on his family register, she too had been listed among the ranks of the immortals.

 Raising her head, Yuka looked into a nearby mirror at her own face. Physically, she remained unchanged from the day she had been married to him, but even Youko commented that she looked different.

 "You were always so cool towards people, really aloof and hard to get to know. Sometimes I got the feeling you looked down on all of us. Even though everyone excluded you, you sometimes gave off the aura of someone to whom the petty concerns of the students weren't of great importance. Well, now it's like all that stand-offish self-possession you had has just gotten worse."

 Yuka wasn't sure that Youko had been complimenting her. In fact she was sure that her friend had been trying to give her helpful criticsm.

 : _But it's not exactly as though I've got a whole lot of choice in the way I act_ ,: Yuka thought with a small frown. : _I'm in a different position from a rightful ruler, I'm not a ruler at all. The only thing I'm here to do is to try to prop up the throne and stabilize the kingdom so Taiki doesn't have to die. I'm surrounded by enemies I can't do anything about, and if they don't have at least a little bit of warriness about me then I won't be able to get anything done._ :

 In her case, she wasn't out to be loved, she needed more to be feared and respected. A cool and aloof manner, when combined with the right leverage, made her opponents just wary enough of crossing her thus bringing down her wrath on them to make the situation manageable. She relied on the image she'd created of a cold, aloof and dangerous woman to cross in order to keep her enemies and her allies in line.

  _:If I had never gotten invoved_ ,: Yuka looked at the mirror, which reflected back the image of a well-polished woman rather than the sixteen year old she had been when she'd crossed over. : _Would I have fallen in love? Would I have been happily married to some warm-hearted idiot and had many children to dote on? Would we have shared meals together and made a house into a home? Would I have gotten to be a tiger-mama to the children about their grades and fussed at him about his job? Would I be old and happy right now, content that I'd lived a full life?_ :

 She'd made her choice, and she in no way regretted it. There were times, after a particularly effective political manuver or when an economic campaign bore fruit and made more jobs and helped the economy, when Yuka was glad she'd done it. But there was no denying that it had been lonely. Even with Taiki beside her, there was a part of him that was always away with his king. And besides that, she didn't see him that way. Because of her position as a married woman Yuka could not even flirt mildly with anyone. After all even if it had been out of necessity, she had given her promise of fidelity to him and she was not the sort to go back on her word.

 : _That doesn't mean that it's not lonely for me sometimes..._ : Yuka thought wistfully.

 "Hurry and wake up," She whispered over at him, moving to blow out the candle. "We're all waiting, and none of us can move on until you do."

 She was just about to blow out the candle when she swore she saw a movement.

 : _Surely it was just a trick of the light_ ,: she told herself, even as she bent over to see more closely, her breath hitching with supressed hope. : _The candles play all sorts of tricks with the flickers of light and shadow.:_

 It happened again, his fingers moved!

 : _They twitched, I'm sure I saw them!_ : she thought excitedly.

 She watched Gyousou like a cat at a mousehole, waiting for more signs that he might actually finally be waking up. The next movement came after so long a wait that she'd almost given up, and it was larger. His whole arm moved and his breathing pattern changed! Elated, Yuka spun and shook Kaname by the shoulder.

 "Hey! Hey wake up!" she said in an excited whisper. She wasn't quite sure why she was whispering, for something like this she felt like she should wake the whole palace. "Kaname, wake up!"

 "Wha-?" he asked, blinking sleepily over at her. "What's wrong?"

 "Look," Yuka said, leaning closer to the sleeping king. "His breathing has changed, and I think I saw him move!" 

 Kaname leaned close searching his features with frantic hope, desperate for him to at last wake up. Yuka felt sort of bad for waking him and telling him so soon, what if she was wrong? She'd have gotten his hopes up for nothing. It had happened in the past after all, but usually it was due to his own hopes rather than her prompting. But a moment later the king did it again, he stirred fully that time, his eyelids fluttered and he took in a sharp breath, like a person preparing to wake. He even shook his head! Yuka and Kaname exchanged twin looks of delight. Kaname daringly reached forward and gently poked at his shoulder, as if afraid he might hurt his leige

 "Gyousou-sama? Gyousou-sama?" he said, his voice high pitched with hope and urgency. "Are you awake? Can you hear me, Gyousou-sama?"

 "Mmh," the king grumbled, his voice rusty from disuse.

 "Should I get a bucket of cold water?" Yuka asked teasingly.

 "Yuka! You should do no such thing!" Taiki replied to her teasing, falling for it as he always did. He turned back to his king.

 "Gyousou-sama, please wake up."

 For the first time in all the time since she'd met him, Gyousou's eyes at last flickered awake. They were a strange color, sort of a deep brownish red color, and though he'd been asleep for decades, his eyes focused quickly and with a few flickering glances took in everything he could see.

 "Gyousou-sama!" Taiki cried falling on his chest and weeping with relief.

 : _I should leave them to thier tearful reunion_ ,: she thought. : _Poor Taiki's been through a lot, and he's been waiting so long for this moment. I should leave them to enjoy it in peace._ :

 Yuka slid the door aside and stepped out onto the pathway between the imperial suite and the kings private gardens, giving the two of them some privacy. Yuka figured she might go back to her rooms and get some sleep for it was late that night (or early that morning actually) and she anticipated that tomorrow was going to be a busy day. She was stopped by Taiki calling for her.

 "Yuka!" he called out.

 Curious, Yuka poked her head back into the room and Taiki beckoned her over. She gingerly walked back into the room, feeling very much like a fifth wheel on a moment beween king and kirin.

 "This is Yuka," Kaname said with a happiness and cheer that Yuka had never seen on his face before.

 Taiki's eyes were more animated, his posture was not so slumped, it seemed like even his breath came easier to him. Yuka looked over at him fondly, pleased to see her dear friend in such high spirits for once. There had been some few times when they had been able to laugh over something in the decades between the time they'd taken the throne and now, but those moments had been far between. Mostly, keeping the kingdom together was a grim, serious business.

 "She stayed with me and helped me all this time," Kaname said enthusatically.

 For the first time Yuka met eyes with the man she'd been supposedly married to all this time. Even from several paces away, she finally got what all of his retainers meant when they talked about his aura. He did have a great force of personality, his gaze carried both a sharpness and a weight to it that was like its own gravity. Yuka felt her own pride rise to the surface to meet it. Her spine straightened and her posture took on the same aura of self-possession she had whenever she was faced with a room full of hostile diplomats or disrespectful ministers, the cultivated aura of someone who would not brook any disrespect to her person and they should back down if they knew what was good for them. Without even intending to she locked gazes with him, his force of personality that reached out at her and pushed her back, she pushed back against. He seemd surprised and his eyes sharpened, Yuka too, narrowed her gaze at him without consciously realizing it. Kaname seemed startled by it and Yuka suddenly remembered herself as her attention was caught by Taiki, looking between them.

 : _That's right, technically I am a guest here in his palce and all of this stuff has been done without his knowledge or consent. I should play nice, at least until I can pack up and leave_ ,: Yuka reminded herself. : _There's no point into getting into a contest of wills with this man after all, he's not invading my turf, rather I have invaded his!:_

 "I'm glad to meet Kaname's king," Yuka said with a polite bow at him. "Please treat me kindly in the future."

 "Thank you for your hard work," he replied automatically.

 The sheer prosaicness of such routine phases during that particular moment and in that particular situation, startled a small, fleeting smile of amusement at the incongruity of it onto her face. A second later it was echoed on the strangers face, and Yuka saw the kindness that Taiki had so often described to her on it. She was surprised by the relief she felt. She had worried for all of the time she had played her role as consort, propping up the throne so that her friend would not face shitsudo, that the man he loved and idolized was less than he remembered. It would take a person every bit as strong and stronger to finally bring Tai to its proper order.

 "Well," Yuka said into the small silence that followed. "It has been a long day for me, and it will likely be an even longer one tomorrow."

 "We should announce the good news!" Taiki said enthusiastically. "All of the province lords are here for New Years, we should tell everyone that the king is awake, then those nasty governors from the north will start behaving themselves."

 "That's precisely what we should _not_ do," Yuka said in urgent alarm, seizing Taiki's wrist to prevent him from running off to rouse the house.

 Could he not see all the ways that that was a very bad idea?! The man was drained to the dregs and wouldn't be able to lift a pen let alone a sword to defend himself for at least another day or two, no matter how fast a healer his immortality made him.  In the meantime, he was litterally surrounded by enemies in his own palace, for the shuukou had gathered for the New Years ceremonies and feast. Counting Taiki they had just over half of the kingdom as allies, but those damn northern shuukou had used much of the extra money from selling thier gems on the black market to outfit thier armies with weapons and armor. Even if thier land-forces could not march through the frozen passes of winter, thier air forces were not anything to sneeze at. The situation was already precarious as it was, adding the possiblity of real, official retribution into the mix was setting a match to a powder keg. If they were going to take them on, they needed to be at thier best. They couldn't do that unless the king could actually defend himself.

 "But why?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

 Yuka sighed a little with an empathic look on her face and said

 "The lords of the north have firmly entrenched themselves in thier territories. Right now they are arrogant, confident in thier safety from anyone being able to take any real action against them."

 "But what about those economic sanctions--?" taiki argued.

 "It's a political and economic war," Yuka corrected gently. "By nature it's not a violent one. So far, I've been able to keep the peole of Tai mostly out of harms way, but that is *only* because those shuukou think they have all of the time in the world. They believe they are immune from retribution because our powers to act against them are limited, thus they've become arrogant. If they suddenly discover that their time is up they will become desperate men. Desperate men take action, no matter how foolish. They still have armies, and many of our own provincial armies and the palace guard are spread out dealing with the youma. If they should band together and attack, the few reserves we've been able to raise will not be enough to hold them off for long. Aside of that, we've gotten the economy and the youma problem stabilized but barely, we litterally cannot afford a civil war. No, the thing to do for right now is to continue playing the board as we have been. I have a few surprises for those men tomorrow that will take thier mind off any inquiries into his majesty's health. We should wait until he's fully recovered before we take any action or make any announcements."

 "Gyousou-sama is in fine health! He's an immortal!" Taiki protested hotly, injured on his master's behalf.

 Yuka graced him with a dry, flat look, then reached over and picked the king's arm up between her thumb and forefinger by the wrist and dropped it. Gyousou hadn't even had the strength to take his wrist out of her grasp and he glared ineffectually at her.

 "You see?" she replied to Taiki with a raised brow. "That Chyoukoku sapped him of all of his strength. Given his immortality it will probably not take long, hopefully it will not take long, but he does need some small time to rebuild his reserves and gather his strength. And besides all of that, you and I have been mired in the sitation for years so we take for granted the complexity of it, but he's going to need some time to get a handle on matters. He can be debreifed or whatever the military term for it is, as he recovers his strength. For now, I am tired and I'm going to get some sleep, I'll need to be my best for the morning."

 With a purposely graceful bow, Yuka rose and left them, seeking her own rest. For the first time in a very long time she slept deeply, relieved to know that the wait was over and the end of her trials was at last in sight.


	4. Eheu, fugaces labunter anni (Alas, the fleeting years slip by)

nj

Gyousou looked down at the form of his sleeping kirin, curled up against his chest peacefully and sighed a bit. He looked over at the soft grey light of dawn brightening the sky outside of his window with a hazy feeling of disbelief overcoming him.

_:It seems so unreal,:_ he reflected to himself with sorrow. _:So much time has passed, and so much has happened to my kingdom without me.:_

 His kirin had been sparing on the details, saying that Gyousou was still recovering from the ravages of the youma that had inhabitted him and that there was plenty of time to go over the details later. But he had hit the high points, fifty years of sleep had passed and Tai was stable but still teetered on the edge without its rightful king on the throne. Taiki was definitely older than when he had left, and Asen's final words to him before he had loosed the Choukyoku on him had been that he would be the kingdom's never-ending downfall, that Gyousou would not age, would not die and neither would his kirin, but likewise Tai would never again know the protection of Heaven.

_:Madness,:_ Gyousou thought.

 Even though he was angry at the man, and enraged that Asen would do this to the innocent people of Tai, let alone sweet Taiki who had never harmed anyone, in private Gyousou Saku still mourned for Asen, ever so slightly. They had grown up together, attended academy together, been brothers in arms for many years. Asen was the closest thing that Gyousou had had to a brother, it saddened him to loose him, even though he knew he'd lost the brother he cared for long ago.

_:I had not thought that her death would ruin him. We were both hurt by her loss, and it is not as though I felt the pain of it any less keenly, but he could have come to me and we would have grieved together._ :

 Sadly, he knew such a thing was and had been impossible. Asen would never have mourned with the man he blamed for her death. He blamed Gyousou, he blamed Tai, and he blamed Heaven for not preserving her.

_:In his mind, both myself and Tentei should be made to pay, and the kingdom that required her sacrifice be made to suffer, I suppose.:_

 Gyousou allowed himself one last sigh of sorrow rather than allow his thoughts to become bitter, then turned his attention to his kirin. In his sleep, no sign of anything that had passed in the interim that Gyousou had been under the spell showed. He did not look worn or weary, but still peaceful and innocent, though a few years older than when Gyousou had last seen him.

_: **That** may take some getting used to,:_ Gyousou thought.

 Next he tested out his own limbs and found that the girl's assessment of him the night previous was quite correct. He could move but he was incredibly wearied. He had fought battles that lasted for days and waged campaigns that had taken weeks of constant skirmishing that had not left him feeling so drained as he did then.

_:The girl was right about that much at least, and it worries me greatly about what else she had to say.:_

 Gyousou knew that there had been long interregnums in the past while the kirin searched for a suitable person, but most of those had been with a stable provisional government in hand. Gyousou himself had had a large hand in stabilizing the last provisional government personally. Most of them, even if they followed a civil war or insurrection, at least had all of the officials in all of the right places (whether they were corrupt or virtuous officials was another matter entirely). He dreaded to think of what his kingdom must be like now, with a king technically enthroned but out of commission and the court unable to move forward. Added on to that, he _knew_ that Asen had usurped the throne and ruined the court, making certain to knock every capable military and civilian official out of place. The beams that Gyousou had so meticulously put into place to shore up the rotting pillars from the previous kings reign had all been taken out so that Asen could watch the whole thing crumble.

_:Except that, by the sounds of things, it hasn't,:_ he thought with profound relief.

 Gyousou Saku truly _loved_ his kingdom. Tai was a hard, harsh and often unforgiving land, but he loved it. He had always felt that it was his duty to protect his people, to safeguard them and look out for their welfare. It hurt him deeply that he had failed in that. He had assumed the throne with the promise of a stable and effective rule, had had everything in place for a smooth and successful transition of power, but in the course of a single day and night it seemed all of that promise had turned to ash. Now he awoke in the morning to a land he did not know and that did not know him.

_:I have let my land and people down,:_ he thought to himself.

 Taiki moved and snuggled closer to his master.

_:And Taiki, what have you suffered because of my weakness?:_

 Gyousou's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of the doord that led to his inner courtyard garden, the garden he shared with Taiki's Meiden Palace, snapping open without a request for entry.

 "I thought I'd find you here and it looks like you're thinking about things," the girl from the previous evening said briskly, looking sharply at him.

 She was dressed in an under-robe for a court function and in her arms she had a very large stack of books and a few scrolls (maps by the looks of them) balanced on top of the books. She walked right over, without even a bow or an obeisance to him, and deposited the books next to him.

 "It's probably not what you want to hear, but I've been told I'm the queen of uncomfortable truths," the girl said, her tone still brisk and businesslike with him. "We're all in a bad way, and your being asleep for decades hasn't helped matters any. Whether it your fault or his doesn't matter, it is what it is and there's no sense wishing otherwise. But--"

 Here she contrived to look sort of cheerful, but didn't really.

 "We knew you'd have to wake up some time, so we took notes for you. These volumes cover everything we've been doing for the last while, the diagrams are to help you get a better understanding of the population shifts, the new trade routes, the infrastructure improvements and the resource-redistributions and all of that. If you have any questions, taiki and Risai will be right there. Study hard!"

 "Wait!" he commanded when it looked like she was simply going to turn around on her heel and march out without even a by-your-leave-your-majesty.

 The girl looked back over her shoulder at him, eyebrows raised in question.

 "Who are you?" he demanded.

 She had to be some sort of official, but Gyousou was certain he would have remembered appointing someone like her to a seat. She looked young, but in order to have been involved from the beginning as she implied, she would have to be an immortal. The girl turned and looked back at him, hesitated and gave a small, soft, not-smile.

 "I am... Taiki's friend. I'm here to save him."

 With that, she left.

  _:Save him? What does she mean by that?:_ he wondered.

 She had specifically said save and not help. It seemed sort of odd. Gyousou had the discomforting feeling that, before the week was out, he was gong to be feeling a lot more disoriented. A few minutes later his friend and fellow general Risai all but burst in on him. She knelt quickly to her knees and bowed, but there was no doubt that she was overjoyed. Still she tried to maintain her customary dignity though there were signs o tears running down her face.

 "Your Majesty!" she all but gasped out.

 "General Risai," he rumbled in acknowledgement.

 Taiki stirred and stretched, opened his eyes and blinked up at him. At the sight of him awake, the young man's (well, not really so young anymore) features transformed with joy to that smiling face that he remembered so well. Gyousou could not help smiling back at him. No matter what else had occurred, at least there was this.

 "Your majesty, I am overcome with joy to see you well at last," Risai said.

 "Mostly well," he acknowledged with a pang of annoyance.

 He could feel his own energy starting to trickle back into place and though it was probably even more quickly than the girl had thought, he knew that getting him ready to re-assume his throne would take some time anyway, so there really was no point in rushing things just yet. He should make certain he was fully ready.


	5. Auribus Teneo lupum (I hold a wolf by the ears)

mk

That day was what Yuka had come to call a Culture Day and it was one of the rare treats she had to look forward to over the course of the year.

 : _I don't know whether to say it is pathetic or admirable that I have such a strange event held,_ : she thought to herself.

 Because neither she nor Taiki were natural citizens of Tai, and yet they both held the fate of the kingdom together, the two of them had worried that the impact of the decisions that they had to make would not take the people who were affected by them in to good enough account. With only a basic high school education, Yuka could point out at least a dozen hitorical incidences in which well-meaning decisions made by foreign powers (like many of Great Britains "colonies" in other countries such as India and China) that had not taken the deep-rooted culture, social mores and beliefs into account had ended in disaster. Since neither she nor Taiki had known all that much about Tai except what they were able to read in books, they both had felt that they lacked a true understanding of the lands and people they were set up to rule.

_:And since the situation prevented either of us from walking around and visiting with people, we had little choice but to bring the people to us if we were to be able to meet with them and understand them, even just a little bit.:_

 Since the end of the winter wars when bringing about economic stability and ridding the land of Youma became thier primary objectives in order to stabilize the government they had held this particular bit of strangeness. Yuka and Taiki had ordered that the soldiers stationed in peaceful (and even some hostile if they could manage it) provinces would politiely request that a few people from different classes and backgrounds, from all walks of life, from farmer and fisher to merchant and aristocrat, would take some time out from thier lives to travel t the capitol and meet with "someone." It was never exactly specified who that someone was, and the people were never told that they had met with the Taiho and the acting queen-consort of Tai to hear about their lives. They even held the meeting in a non-descript house down in the capitol city of Kouki, Yuka dressed in plain clothes and ferried down there by one of her guards. It was the only time at all during the year when she got to leave the palace.

 They tried to get a pretty good sampling, all occupations and ages, genders and hanjuu as well in order to get the widest perspective possible. Taiki and Yuka just listened to them, they asked questions about what thier lives were like and what thier homes were like, anything from questions about architecture to weather and climate conditions to what an average day in thier lives might be like. They listened to thier concerns (and there were a great many of them) and thier unsettled feelings over how the world was changing, and how some of them thought the changes were good because of the upward mobility or bad because of thier traditional values.

_:I think we have a pretty good cross section of the population this time,_ : Yuka thought as she looked down at the list of people she was supposed to meet with.

 She had fishers from several different areas around the coast, each from a different province, there were farmers, of both genders and of varrying age-groups from all around, even from what Yuka had come to think of as enemy territory.

_:It will be even more important to listen and understand them,:_ Yuka reminded herself. _:After all, they are the ones who will be and have been most affected by the decisions Taiki and I have made.:_

 There were what Yuka still thought of a miners (though could you call them that when what they did was more along the lines of harvest rather than dig in the earth to wrest out treasure?) and of course merchants of the south, but a few from the north. There were shepherds or whatever the local equivalent was, and some butchers, there were also students, and traveling minstrels, youma-slayers, a few nobles from old families in a scattering of the provinces, vinters and cheesmakers as well as several people who worked in some of the newer crafts that had cropped up.

 What Yuka found out over the course of the day did, as usual, increase her understanding of the kingdom she was supposedly supposed to be running with the help of Taiki. She learned that the farmers of the north were having just as hard a time of things as she had feared they would be; there were less migrant workers to help them take in the harvests because everyone had moved down south for jobs in the towns. In addition, crops were harder to plant with less people to plant them. She learned that some of the ones who had emmigrated down south for jobs were actually having trouble finding work in some places and that many of them missed thier old homes but knew they would not be able to return because if they did, the provincial governor and his armies would take all of their food that they needed to survive in order to feed the belly of htier troops at lesser expense to themselves. She also learned that sap-glass was technically considered to be a part of glass-work, though there were comming to be specialized apprenticeships for it. The waterproof cloth was naturally part of the textiles, but also required specialized training and materials, they'd had to reinvent the loom in order to manage the strange fibers that fed into it. The fishers of the coast were about the same as they ever were though they complained about the greater amount of merchant-traffic along the sea-ways disrupting thier fishing spots. Yuka heard a lot of complaints when she didn't manage to gently steer the conversation to the speaker to talking about his family and his ancestors and what his sort generally believed about the world.

_:Give a person an ear to complain to and they'll certainly talk a mile,:_ Yuka thought with a wry grin as the kijyuu that had taken her down to the small, neat house she had set up to meet people in (a comforatble place that was not threateneing in any way) took her back up to the palace.

 Once she shed her relatively plain civilan clothes, the ladies who attended her room all but shoved her into the bath and scrubbed her down. It was like they were afraid the common dust she brought in from the streets might contaminate thier precious palace or something. Next she was arrayed in one of her more elaborate court robes with beading and embriodery everywhere. Her maids dressed her hair, which Yuka had allowed to grow out for the whole time she'd been acting consort as a symbol of her will to see things through (she planned to cut it all off when she was finally free of the palace), was coifed in an elaborate style with combs and jeweled hairpins.

 Yuka examined herself in the mirror, sometimes it still surprised her not to see an ordinary schoolgirl looking back at her but a fine lady wearing ancient-style hanfuu and jewels and looking like a doll from out of a display or painting.

_:And I'm ready for battle,:_ she thought with resignation as she straightened her spine and put her game face on.

 A cabinet meeting to discuss the on-going affairs of the kingdom could be chancey at times. While Many of the ministers were on her side, there were some that were left over from the usurpers reign that Yuka could not remove from office and replace with another, and one that was left over from the previous king that always seemed to inadvertantly be causing troubles for them, though he was in fact well-intentioned.

 The daishito and the soushito (prime and vice ministers respectively) of the Ministry of Earth (interior and census bureau) were, thank the mercy of Tentei, still left over from Gyousou's tenure as king. They had been firm and staunch allies to her and Taiki as well as excellent advisors. They had not, of course, always agreed with the dicisions that she and Taiki had made between them about the necessity of changing the rules of the game, but with thier help (once they knew that neither the consort nor the Taiho would change thier minds on a point) the transition for the population was made much less painfully and with less confusions than it would otherwise have been. Now, each family that moved to a new province could check in at a census house, give thier names, former province and occupation and whether they had held land or not for recordkeeping purposes, and hear about any good opportunities for them nearby hopefully. The records were so that, when the land hopefully did eventually stabilize, their family might be able to reclaim thier ancestral lands without trouble. Hopefully.

 The daishiko and soushiko of the Ministry of Fall, the judiciary, had been put into place by Asen and had been so firmly entrenched that Yuka and Taiki had been all but forced to accept them. They were not quite corrupt, that was, they did not allow the laws to be mocked or broken with impunity, but then again they let so many technicalities through that it made the regulatory authority of the laws look like a sieve. Yuka and those two were not openly at war but they had a mutual dislike for each other. The Choushi (the person who reported the activities of the other officials) was at least a fairly decent sort, his morals were a bit flexible but he did not allow excessive abuses of power within his sphere of influence. He too had more or less become an ally of Yuka's in her war against the northern officials.

 The Ministry of Heaven was one that Yuka had not really seen as great a use for until she came to grasp the fact that the imperial palace was, in essence, one giant city. Maintenance of the Royal Palace meant more than just replacing roof-tiles and scrubbing floors. It was also maintaning the records in the library, making certain that the palace budget balanced, paying the staff, ordering all the neccessary goods and supplies to keep the place running; sheets and cadles, brushes, imperial armor and uniforms, paper, ink, soap,... it went on and on. Yuka was actually really good with numbers so she and the clerk-like ministers; the Taisai, the Sousai, the Shousha and Shikyuu (who were in charge of palace maintenence and uniforms respectively) all got along rather famously. Yuka even almost thought of them as friends because the work they gave her to sign off on and the few closet meetings required of her to keep thier ministry running were cake-walks compared to the rest of what she had to deal with. Numbers were easy, it was when people got involved that things got dicey.

 If Yuka liked the Ministry of Heaven, then Taiki liked the Ministry of Spring, the ones in charge of ceremonies, rites, festivals and the school system. They were still left over from the king who had been on the throne before Gyousou. In fact, Taiki once told her that he had been responsible for the Daisouhaku (the Prime Minister of Spring) retaining his position. The Taiho actually had a great deal of personal authority with regards to rites, so that ministry was more or less sort of his homeground. Yuka did not dislike the man, though in truth he was a bit of a pain in her neck. The Daisouhaku had a taste for extravagance that had been encouraged by the previous king and the usurper. Left to his own devices, the Daisouhaku might just spend the slender Royal Treasury dry again on festivals and holidays. However, Yuka knew that with things as bad as they were, people needed some "bread and circuses" to relieve their troubles and stress; to give them hope for the future, so she always left money in the budget for the festivals and set aside nearly a weeks worth of time to argue with the minister about why they could not have this or that extravagance and talk him down to a reasonable festivals-expenditure for people to have fun with. The Daisouhaku needed careful watching because the wiley old man was a peerless manipulator and Taiki was easy to manipulate (sweet boy) with the phrase "the people would be so happy if...". Yuka had to keep a sharp watch on him, but fortunately had been able to win over (or bribe on occassion) enough of his staff that she got a pretty fair warning when he was up to something.

 The ministries of Summer and Winter she always had gotten confused at first, because what thier titles were and what they were in charge of always seemed like they should be reversed. The Ministry of Summer,(Yuka thought of summer as a happy time where everyone was carefree,) was in charge of the military, and Yuka thought of the military as being very serious and rigid. Winter was serious business in Tai so she thought that winter should be for the military. The Ministry of Winter was in charge of economic affairs, and since that was something that Yuka discovered she had a talent for dealing with she always looked forward to meeting them the way a student would look forward to summer vacation.

 The Ministry of Summer's Daishiba and Soushiba had been appointed by Asen. Fortunately when Yuka (in her nominal husband's name) had used the borrowed armies to reconquer the kingdom, nearly all of the soldiers and officers loyal to Asen had fought against her and been rounded up. Only the ministers, whom Yuka did not have the authority to fire or re-appoint them, (she could only execute them if they offered physical harm to the royal consort and they had at least been smart enough to treat thier new leader with kid gloves) remained in place. However, Yuka knew that they were enemies, as such she had used Taiho's power to reassign them to useless busywork in the palace (where she could keep an eye on them) making thier positions entirely ceremonial. In thier place, the trusted General Risai was the acting-Daishiba.

 The Ministry of Winter (still a weird title because no-one really traded in winter) was the other minister who was firmly in Yuka and Taiki's camp. Yuka even sort of considered the Gishi (the minister in charge of reserching and developing new technologies, who had worked diligently with her to complete the skyway system, Tai's new infrastructure) and the Shoushi (who produced goods, and helped her spread the word and find markets for them) to be sort of friends, at least as much as Yuka could afford to consider any of the ministers her friends. It was by working with that particular ministry that Yuka had been able to bring economic stability enough to begin addressing some of the kingdom's other issues.

 The end of the year the meeting was little more than a recap of the preceeding year with regards to each of the ministries and a "wish you luck and please take care" before the royal court went on a breif hiatus for the New Years holiday. The ministers would go home and see their families while Yuka and Taiki got to deal with the offical visit and report (in her case, diplomatic and political manuvering) of the Provincial Lords. She was not looking forward to that meeting, and it was supposed to happen tomorrow.

 She was seated on a cushion on the smaller dais in front of the empty throne, slightly to the left. The taiho stood in his place to the fore and right of the empty throne and the six ministers and thier vice-ministers were arrayed out on either side of the blue carpet that rolled down the center of the lesser audience chamber. The meeting was held there because preparing the throne room with all of its attendant ceremonies was simply too much of a bother for what was in truth a minor event.

_:To think,_ : Yuka thought with a lifting feeling of optimism. _:This may be the last time I have to do this!:_

 The king would recover quite quickly and Taiki had said that he and Risai were already bringing him up to speed on everything that had went on in Tai while he'd been out of commission. In a matter of a week Yuka might find herself freed from the burdens of limited rule.

_:And after that... **vacation**!:_ she thought, practically wriggling with anticipation.

 The daisouhaku of spring urged them all to find just a little more room in the royal budget to support a grand feast for the royal court on the day after New Years. Taiki was across from her, giving her puppy-eyes. He wanted that feast because the minister had promised how happy it was going to make everyone. Yuka knew better, that minister wanted that feast partly to increase his own prestige and partly because (unbeknownst to him, she was sure) several of his under secretaries had a rather profitable trade in graft and had urged him to urge the Taiho to increase thier festival budget. Yuka had tried to reasonably tell Taiki this but the sort of suspicion that came naturally to her was a closed book to him.

_:Ah, corruption and graft, the true hallmarks of civilization!:_ Yuka though with an internal sigh.

 "Minister," Yuka said turning to adress him with her serene smile. "We have discussed this matter previously. While it makes Taiho and I both glad to hear that you wish everyone to have plenty of fun this season, I am afraid that there is simply no room in the palace budget for the additions to the ceremonies you wish to make. If you do not believe me you are free to consult with the minister of Heav-"

 Due to her inattention and the general hubbub of the season, ministers and their entourages getting prepared to leave, the province lords and htier entourages arriving and getting situated, the palace prepared for the various rites and ceremonies that were part of the New Year, Yuka had been so busy that she'd relaxed her usual vigilance. Thus she was not prepared and was caught completely by surprise when a sudden attack occured without warning.

 The cavernous throne room abruptly erupted into violence when several wild youma, a vicious one about the size of a lynx, smaller winged one with four legs and twice that many sharp talons, and a large skinny one like a lizard on its hind legs but with a maw more like a crocodile, all burst into the room. A nearby candelabra full of burning candles fell onto some nearby hangings, causing a fire race up the cloth and spread. The ministers scattered, screaming and running in panic while the gaurds descended to subdue the creatures and put out the fire. Taiki was frozen in fear at all the frightening things happening around him and Yuka rushed over to push him behind the throne away from danger.

 "It's alright," she reassured him with a smile, prepared to wait with him and keep him calm until all the pandemonium had passed. "Everything is--"

 Yuka only had the widening of his eyes and the quick intake of breath to warn her and she reacted before he could even get out a shout of warning. She spun around, pulling her "decorative" court fan out of her sash to block the downward swing of the sword. There had been attempts on her life before this, and also on Taiki's life as well, so both she and Risai had decided that Yuka should never go anywhere unarmed, even to bed. Yuka had developed an image of herself as a "mere consort" a somewhat weak woman who was too delicate to real fighting, carrying a dagger or a sword would clash with her image so Risai had trained her in the use of the fan as a weapon as well as unarmed combat. She had several special fans, each accessorized for different outfits, but all of them with metal blades and woven wire mesh for paper in them. The attacker was dressed in dark but non-descript clothing and his face was covered by a wrapped cowl so that all she could see were his eyes.

 He attacked quickly, lunging at Yuka with a stabbing maniver that she easily deflected with the flat of her fan. Rather than close on him, Yuka attempted a knee-strike to his extended knee, hoping to unbalance him. He rolled with the balance but recovered to swing around at her in a slicing pattern from the side. Yuka snapped open the fan and pressed her hand against the wire-mesh side "catching" the blow. Instead of engaging her for his next manuver he leapt past her and Yuka saw her mistake almost too late; his true target was Taiki, and she had allowed him to manuver herself out of the way for him to strike at her friend. Quickly, Yuka kicked up into the air and landed on his back, encumbering him with her many layered court robes so that he had to struggle with her skirts blinding him.

 "Taiki, run!" Yuka commanded.

 Taiki's clothes shredded as he assumed his kirin form and bolted for the nearest window, crashing through and letting in the cold air of night. His primary prey escaped, the attacker decided that Yuka would do just as well for his purposes. He stabbed his sword downward to pin her sleeve but Yuka wrapped the silk of her wrap-over-skirt around his blade and pulled hard on it, hoping for a disarm. Another swing of his sword sliced off her belt she caught it his reverse-swing with her fan before it could do lasting harm. He lunged again and Yuka just barely managed to dodge back out of the way of the sword, through her clothes were beginning to come unraveled around her.

_:Curse the imperial court and thier inconvenient fashion for elaborate, many layered robes!:_

 Yuka pulled out a hairpin from her elaborate cioffure, tested it for balance and threw it at him. Risai had armed her with throwing weapons disgised as hair-pins. The attacker batted it out of the way and lunged in again, Yuka dodged backwards but luck and the terrain were against her this time, the hem of her robe caught on part of the stairwell and she lost her balace, falling backwards but the uneven steps made her attempt at a roll go wrong and she wound up on her back. The blade descended and she pulled her fan up to block... too slow! The blade bit painfully into her right shoulder.

_:He's in range for an attack!:_ Yuka thought triumphantly even through the pain of her wound.

 Her left foot shot up to catch him under the chin while her right hand grabbed his sword-arm by the forearm and she used the momentum of his downward stab to roll him over onto his back. In a practiced, lightning quick movement she had him pinned with another of her shapened hairsticks at his throat.

 In the breif time she had been engaged with her attacker, the throne room had filled with palace guards. The youma were dispensed with and her attacker was quickly surrounded. Sadly when Yuka got off him, before they could restrain him to be questioned, the attacker took his own life. A whole contingent of guards personally escorted Yuka back to her quarters across the imperial garden from the Emperor's rooms. The spot had been chosen by Risai in the interests of defensibility.

 "Your Grace!" one of her room maids said, when she saw her mistress limping into the room (the fall on the steps had bruised her thigh) with her robes and hair disheveled and herself holding the remains of her obi to her chest to stop the bleeding on her shoulder. The hue and cry spread about the room as more of the younger maids saw her in such a state. Some of the older maids who had been there longer had seen her in the days of the reconquista, when she had fought regularly and just as regularly been injured. Seeing that thier mistress was pained but not unduly concernd, the older ones calmed the others down by ordering a bath and hot drinks and hot bricks for the bed and some should send for the healer. Risai appeared at the door a moment later, another contingent of guards with her.

 "Your grace," she said with her customary calm efficiency. "Captain Mizuru has reported that you were injured, are you well?"

 The healer showed up hard on Risai's heels and shoved her way past to examine the wound. A medical kit was quickly produced and the lady-doctor stripped Yuka down without a thought to her modesty and began the cleanse and banadge the wound.

 "It's relatively shallow for a stab wound though the edges are abraided," the healer reported calmly. "There is no sign of any of the poisons which work on immortals, so once I cleanse and bandage the wound she should recover and heal quickly after a good nights rest."

 "Were there accomplices?" Yuka questioned next as the good healer bandaged her up.

 "The guard has already begun a full-scale sweep of that section of the palace and there are partols in the air outside to make certain no-one escapes down the mountainside. The staff has orders to report any suspicious activity."

 "Have watchers put on the provincial lords," Yuka added. "For their safety of course."

 Risai nodded, understanding, by now, Yuka's double-talk. They of course suspected that one or more of them had been responsible for the attempt, and no doubt a thorough search of thier quarters and a headcount of their entourage would quickly ensue unless they caught any accomplices trying to escape.

 "Already done, your grace," she replied, Yuka nodded, more and more, her orders were superfluous. "There have to have been more than just the one attacker, youma like that are not so easy to handle that a single person could bcapture, transport and then set loose three of them that size unaided. We'll find them and then nail whoever's responsible for setting them on you and the Taiho."

 Yuka nodded, confident in the general's abilities. Sadly this was not thier first time at the rodeo for either of them, there had been other attempts and that had made thier system all the more effcient for it.

 "Was there any attempt to breach the imperial chambers?" She asked next.

 That had always been a major concern. While the king was held in sleep, he was helpless. He relied on Risai and the palace guard to preserve his life, for all it would take would be one assassin to get through and the king's life would be ended. The emperor's chambers had a round-the-clock guard of those soldiers that Risai herself would trust with her life, the few men and women whose loyalty was absolute and unquestioned. They would have been perhaps better used to shore up the various governmental positions that could use a few good, loyal men but it was commonly agreed that defending the kings life took the priority.

 "Both shifts of guards have been roused and are currently in place around Seiden palace. His majesty is as safe as we--"

 Risai was cut off by a noise from the doorway, a transformed Taiki in kirin form with his king leaning heavily against his side appeared in her doorway. Yuka reacted as any maiden would react to a strange man entering her quarters. She screamed a loud, surprised "kyaaaa!" and ducked down, throwing the nearest object at the intuder and covering herself.

 The king blinked for a long moment and then said

 "My apologies, i had not thought you would be... in a state. My kirin was worried so i came to see what had raised the alarm."

 "It is not a problem, your majesty," Risai replied.

 "Says you!" Yuka snapped.

 The king let out a weak chuckle at that and politely exited the chamber. The healer finished her work and Yuka was placed into the hands of the maids when Risai realized the impropriety of reporting to the one she had become accustomed to seeing whenever disasters like that one occured, instead of her rightful master. Force of habit.


	6. veritas odit moras (truth hates delay)

Gyousou Saku looked back at his trusted general in aghast shock.

 "An assassination attempt in the royal palace?!" he said in disbelief.

 Not even in the worst of the civil wars under the old king had anyone ever managed to breach the defenses of the imperial palace. Such things were more a matter of historical record than attempted within living memory (and some of the court officials had living memories that went back for hundreds of years).

 "Your majesty," Risai said, a little apologetically. "With the current turbulent state of affairs in the kingdom such attempts have become... quite frequent. The Taiho still makes a good target to strike at, for it is well known that kirin are pacifists. The Royal Consort has made a great many enemies, or rather inherited them from Asen, and made their enmity toward Her Grace in particular quite violent."

 Gyousou frowned, not certain he'd heard right. _He_ was not married, he had no Royal Consort.

 "General Risai," the voice of the girl who had been attacked said from the sliding doorway as she entered the room.

 He and Taiki and Risai were currently in a sitting room in his own rooms in Seiden Palace. A servant had brought tea and several things to eat while Gyousou, feeling much improved from his nap earlier which had gone a long ways toward restoring his strength, sat down to hear to whole of the messy business before him.

 "Have any of the four shuukou made any particular moves?" the girl asked as she came in and sat down.

 "They have been quiet Your Grace," the general replied.

 "Figures," she muttered, helping herself to some tea and steamed buns. "They _know_ we're bound to suspect them, if they weren't already, they'll be on their best behavior. Still, we might get lucky and one of them might slip up, have your people look sharp."

 The way that the girl who was Taiki's friend had asked and Risai had answered spoke louder than words of a long association. It was nearly exactly the same way that he and Risai would speak to each other as king and general. Also, the way she came in and sat down comfortably said she was accustomed to moving around freely. As the king, he knew everyone of rank within the palace, or he had, but he didn't know her. Which begged the question once again...

 "Who are you?" he demanded of the wounded girl.

 Yuka looked over at Taiki with an incredulous look on her face.

 "You didn't _tell_ him?!" she demanded, sounding dismayed.

 "I didn't have time," Taiki protested, raising his hands.

 "Oh..." Yuka looked back over at Gyousou, and her expression changed to one that he couldn't quite read. She looked embarrassed and said

 "Awk-ward."

 The three other denizens of the room all looked at each other, clearly waiting for someone else to speak, and just as clearly not wanting to be the one to address the subject.

 "Well?" he demanded, a little irritated.

 The girl decided to grasp the bull by the horns and straightened with a small wince to say

 "As I hope you've gathered by now, Asen's coup of Tai left the government, the military and the countryside in shambles. Taiki was transported back to hourai in order to escape the violence in the palace. Six years later, after I had crossed over to this world with Keiki and Youko, which is a whole _other_ story, and was sent back home, I found him there and we became friends."

 "I didn't really remember who I really was or where I'd come from, I only felt like I missed something important," Taiki added in.

 "Enki, Youko and I managed to get him back to this world where he belongs but there was still a usurper in power over Tai and the king was still missing at that time."

 Taiki and Yuka took turns telling him of how they had found him, and the different things that had been tried to remove the Chyoukoku from his body, and how at last even the Oracle of the Jasper Mist Gyoukuyou could only promise an end to the sleep… but at such a far time away that it was not useful. Fifty years would be too long for the throne to sit vacant with Asen at the helm, and Taiki would certainly die by shitsudo by then. Then they covered how En and Kei volunteered their help to oust Ansen from power with their armies if _someone_ could be found to lead them on the sleeping king's behalf.

"I physically _could not_ do it Gyousou-sama," Taiki said apologetically. "I tried, but the violence and bloodshed were too much for me."

 "It is alright," Gyousou comforted his friend, feeling terrible all over again that his kirin should have known such suffering, when Gyousou had sworn to himself that he would always protect him and Taiki would never undergo shitsudo.

 "It was the king of En who found a loophole," Risai said, smiling a little as if very amused by something.

 The fact that the girl, Yuka's, cheeks were bright red and she looked like she rather wished the floor would swallow her whole was not lost on Gyousou. He quickly put two and two together and came up with the right answer.

 "Ah, the Lady Orihime solution," he surmised with a nod.

 He was not unfamiliar with history, naturally, any good general studied the movements of generals past as well as creating his own way around difficulties. He knew of the story about the Royal Consort who had saved her husband's life by fleeing with the Taiho to beg the aid of a neighboring kingdom. She had been able to lead the troops in his name while the king was pinned down in the palace by the rebels.

 "But we are not married," he pointed out next.

 "The Taiho, in the incapacitation of his or her ruler, has the authority to manage the Royal Household, even including adding or deleting names from the family registry," Risai said, looking amused by the young lady's obvious discomfort.

 "My name was added on to your registry during a ceremony presided over by Taiki," was Yuka's murmured reply, as she colored even more deeply in apparent _profound_ mortification.

 "A proxy marriage," Gyousou nodded, appreciating the neat wrap up of all the loose ends.

 They got what they needed (a person to head the army and retake the kingdom) as well as a way to access and utilize some royal authority without breeching Heaven's Law. It was clever, and the girl was very brave to have made herself a target in order to help her friend.

 When he looked over at her, she sort of looked her physical age right then, which would have been the same as his kirin's, about sixteen or so. She looked embarrassed by the situation and understandably nervous of him, and abruptly he felt a bit sorry for her.

 : _I imagine it's one thing to agree to be "married" when one does not ever have to worry about seeing the spouse, but it probably feels entirely different now that I'm awake and alive. Add to that the fact that she and Taiki have been doing Heaven knows what in the meantime with my royal authority based on the fact of that proxy marriage and she'd probably be understandably concerned about my reaction_.:

Even with the nice court-robe, Gyousou didn't think that the girl had spent all of her time as queen pro-tem enjoying herself by living in luxury. The bandages around her chest and the fact that Risai acknowledged she'd made enemies were an obvious corroboration to the story that she'd joined up to stabilize the kingdom and preserve her friend's life.

 The bandages wrapped around her from the recent fight were peeking out from under her more simple robes and they were dotted red in some places where the blood tried to leak through. Kouri was clearly trying not to be ill and Yuka covered them up with a solicitous look at her kirin friend.

 : _In order to spare her further worry or embarrassment, perhaps it is best that I let the matter of our apparent nuptials drop for now, at least until I am more aware of the situation.:_

 "Sorry Kaname," she said to him. "You and Risai and your king can get caught up, I'll retire for the night so you don't get uncomfortable."

 "No, it's alright," he said bravely, though he was looking a bit green.

 "Don't be silly," Yuka insisted. "I know the sight of blood bothers you. I'll catch up with you in the morning, this should be mostly healed by then."

 The girl, well actually if she had been around as long as Risai and Taiki had told him he'd been out of commission she wouldn't actually be a girl by now, bowed gracefully and exited the room with a pace that was swift but somehow managed to look unhurried. Gyuousou looked after her in nonplussed amusement. Taiki tried to suppress a smile but a soft titter escaped. It was joined by Risai's quiet chuckle as the two of them exchanged a speaking glance.

 "You wouldn't think of it to know her would you?" Risai said to Taiki sharing some private joke.

 "I know, right?" taiki replied with a small laugh. "Everyone else thinks she's this cool, aloof ice-queen. It's so funny to see her blush like a schoolgirl."

 "It doesn't happen often," Risai agreed.

 Taiki turned to him.

 "I hope you're not mad. Yuka only did it because she was worried I'd get sick if I stayed in exile, and she stuck around to make sure I didn't get sick because Tai is--" the kirin cut himself off, aware as ever of a possible sensitive subject.

 "A mess," Gyousou said for him, putting the issue right out where everyone could see it.

 An uncomfortable silence fell across the room. Gyousou silently signaled that Risai should leave and attend to what needed attending to, and he would meet with her later.

 The king of Tai silently ran over in his mind how best to handle the situation of reassuring his kirin that all was well. Right from the very beginning Taiki had always required special handling. Despite the fact that he was a rare and wonderful kirin, and that Tai was blessed to have him, he'd always lacked confidence.

 : _Come to that, I wonder how he has been able to handle the pressures of ruling a kingdom without a king_ ,: Gyousou thought idly while he chose his next words carefully. : _By nature kirin's are too soft-hearted for the kinds of decisions required for rule, that is why kings are chosen, so it's clear he could not have done it on his own. It must be the girl. I'll inquire more deeply about the situation from Risai later on. For now, I suppose it's best to simply address his fears directly and reassure him they are groundless. I know he will trust in me at least that much_.:

 "So, you and your friend have been trying to rule the kingdom while I was under the spell of the Chyoukoku," he said gently, making certain his tone was soft and in no way threatening or chiding.

 Taiki looked over at him with tears in his eyes, clearly upset at the thought that his king might admonish him for trying to do the job that only Gyousou was meant to do.

 "I am _sorry_ , Kouri," he said softly, gently brushing his kirins black hair back with a large hand.

 Taiki peered up at him out of the corner of his eye, hopeful.

"I wanted to be a good king for you. I wanted to give to you a stable rule so you would never worry about... getting sick. I never wanted you to have to suffer as you have, or to have to face the things you've had to face. I am sorry. So sorry."

 "Gyousou-sama!" his kirin reached over to comfort his king, who was ashamed that he who was supposed to be the pillar of his kingdom had been defeated and all of his wishes for the future utterly destroyed. They took comfort in the fact that, after all was said and done, there was still just enough to work with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had not realized that I had forgotten to give credit where due in the notes posted on the first chapter of this. I want to give a huge shout-out to Kshadeslady for giving the first chapters of this a read and encouraging me and most importantly... giving this fic a name! I meant to credit her in the first chapter but I posted at three in the A.M. so I probably missed it.


	7. causa latet, vis est notissima  (The cause is hidden, but the result is well known)

There was still a great deal that needed to be done yet in order to prepare for the meeting of the nine provincial lords the next evening. Yuka busied herself in her office with her secretaries putting the final touches into place for the rest of that evening. Her ability to focus in completely on her work helped take her mind of that awkward and horribly embarrassing revelation to the man she'd been married in name to for the last several decades that he was the victim of a proxy marriage decided without his consent while he'd been sleeping.

 : _Truthfully, I thought he'd be mad,:_ she thought to herself. : _Or at least a little embarrassed by it, or maybe irritated that we did it without asking him. But he just sort of... accepted it.:_

 He'd just sort of nodded in a way that said 'well that makes sense' and more or less moved on. Yuka wasn't sure what to think. In an ordinary encounter with a strange minister, Yuka would have thought that maybe he was planning how best to use the information against her later, but this was Taiki's king and he had said that Gyousou Saku was not like that.

 : _I think Taiki would say that he said nothing else in order to save me from further embarrassment,:_ Yuka thought with a small feeling of cautious optimism.

 The maids in her room were giggling and tittering about something when she went in to prepare for bed. Yuka was a somewhat frequent visitor to the sleeping kings chamber, but only entirely because Taiki was a frequent visitor and that was the easiest (not to mention safest) place to find him.

 : _Those maids have this great tragic and romantic love story built up in their minds about how I'm supposedly such a faithful and loving wife, waiting patiently for the day my beloved will rise again_ ,: Yuka thought with an internal snort of irony at the joke that probably only she thought was funny.

 Truthfully, she didn't really have the heart to disabuse them of the notion and crush their romantic dreams. After all, much of her own authority as Royal Consort rested on her supposed faithful devotion to her husband, so it was a politically astute maneuver to allow that particular rumor to continue.

 : _Unlike in songs and romantic tales it is quite impossible to fall in love with a sleeping person_ ,: Yuka thought. : _One might as well try to fall in love with a doll. Feelings take interaction, or at least enough movement for admiration, in order to grow.:_

 Yuka's experience with the area of "love" was low-level, despite that she'd once had a boyfriend. She and Asano had been more like 'friends who really like each other' rather than passionate lovers. They'd tried kissing and had once even gone a little bit farther but there had been a basic incompatibility between them when it came to the way they approached loveplay. The part of the problem was that he had been too easy-going to put the moves on her, and too deferential when it came time to push things forward a bit. Yuka, for her part, had been so self-contained from all the bullying that she’d had a hard time letting anyone past her defenses and _did_ require an initial push but to get her to open up and to reassure her that she was worthy of it. The easy-going Ikuya Asano did not have the courage or, oddly, the confidence to make the necessary pursuit.

 : _And then I was married just after I heard what happened to him_ ,: she thought. : _So it was easy to push people away and keep the necessary distance that an acting queen would require in order to build up a reputation that was above reproach.:_

 It had been lonely but she'd been so busy, and attempts to get at her by any means possible had been so frequent, it was probably better for her that she had decided that the ice-queen route was the best way to go. An assassin would surely have attempted to seduce her if it had been possible.

 : _Besides that_ ,: she thought. : _Politically speaking, it is impossible to maintain the fiction of a faithful and loyal consort only acting on behalf of her husband if I'm taking lovers left and right. My opponents would have surely discovered an affair and used it as a pretext to get me out of thier way. No, if I was going to play the royal consort, I knew when I signed on that I was going to have to be as above reproach a Queen Elizabeth.:_

 And aside of that, Yuka's parent's marriage had been destroyed by infidelity, so she was serious about marriage vows. As long as she remained bound by her oaths, whether they were one-sided, by proxy or whatever, she intended to honor them. The fact that it worked out better for her and her nature was a solitary one that naturally leaned to facing the world alone just made it easier.

  _:I'm just glad he decided not to make an issue of it,:_ Yuka thought as she settled into bed.


	8. feci quod potui, faciant meliora potentes (I have done what I could; let those who can do better)

Reading over the "notes" that the girl, Taiki and Risai had taken for him over the time that he'd been out of commission was rather like sticking a knife in his heart and twisting it around. Maybe his kingdom was technically stable, but it was certainly not prospering! There were two civil wars being waged further dividing an already splintered royal authority. First was the more obvious war between Taiki, Yuka and the unreplacable provincial governors of Ba, Bun, Jou, and Ie provinces.

  _:I don't know whether to admire her or be far more concerned that she and Taiki decided to take their struggles against them off the battlefield.:_

 On one hand he could see the sense in it. All three note-takers had made it clear that Yuka and Taiki worked together in tandem, and that the girl felt obliged to listen to the kirin’s wishes. Taiki clearly wished that people would not be made to suffer from war. That wish would have necessitated an armistice.

  _:I do not know that I agree with their decision, however,:_ Gyousou thought as he looked at the population charts.

 The north had been all but _emptied_ of civilian life. He knew that that meant that many farms would have gone fallow, industries and resources would have been abandoned along with towns and trading posts needed to run them. He understood that this, too, would have been part of the economic stranglehold that the girl was slowly weaving around their necks, but it was going to have serious impacts on the future, especially in those places most affected by it. Risai had urged that they should assemble the army and simply go in and wipe out the opposition, this would have secured the kingdom under their rule. However, Taiki and Yuka had placed their priority on getting the situation with the youma rampaging around the countryside under control.

  _:While not technically the **wrong** decision,:_ Gyousou thought. _:A quick, decisive victory against them would have been better, I think, than this protracted proxy-war.:_

 Added into the economic conflict was the fact that the ministries were divided. The efficient, decisive system of able and trustworthy ministers that Gyousou had so painstakingly put into place was gone.

  _:That hurts,:_ he thought with a wince.

 He'd worked so _hard_ at it too. His court and the six ministries under him had been like a well-oiled machine! But all things considered, having two "bad" ministries out of six, when one took into account that the ministries themselves had been inherited from a usurper, he supposed was not so bad.

  _:Especially when the pair nominally ruling the throne have no authority to appoint new ministers,:_ he reminded himself. Gyousou of course would have sacked the ministers of spring, summer and fall for their insubordination, as well as the choushi for failure to report misbehavior of his fellow officials, but if they had no choice but to work with what they had and make it do, he supposed some political struggle was inevitable.

 Taiki's notes were incomplete or rather, they had clearly been written with every attempt made to spare his king's feelings and paint a series of events as "not so bad, really". The notes that Risai took were typically military, dry facts about tactics and troop movements and the augmentation of resources. They were useful but pertained only to her area of expertise.

 

The notes the girl left him however didn't spare him any of the gorey details. It even sort of felt like she was (justifiably) admonishing him for what she'd had to put up with. However, aside from her occasional irritated "why won't you wake the hell up, damn you!" she covered everything from the reasons she had used her plan to stabilize the economy as a way to manipulate the population away from the northern province's all as part of her slowly tightening noose around the throats of the lords and ministers she could not replace without royal authority, to the various personalities she faced both in the ministries and in the government officials she had been left with.

 Gyousou was left with the impression of an incisive and cunning mind, but one with a slightly disturbing tendency toward isolation and a "her against the world" mentality. Risai had marked it up to a comment let slip by the regnant queen of Kei (who was reportedly an old friend and schoolmate of the girl) apparently she'd been bullied in the past. While it had surely toughened her skill at observation of interpersonal relationships and analysis of personalities, it had not made her inclined to open up to people it seemed.

  _:I'm inclined to agree with Risai's assessment of her,:_ Gyousou thought after a long moment to study the first book she'd left him. _:She’s not much on military tactics, but when it comes to handling politics and the economy, the girl is as powerful as a general in the field.:_

 There was no doubt that the Royal Consort pro-tem had a canny and cunning mind. What worried him about her was the way she seemed to see everyone else but Taiki as a potential enemy. It didn't seem very healthy.

  _:Then again, that's probably one reason why she's still alive.:_

 Risai had also detailed the attempts to get at the Taiho and the Royal Consort. Taiki was thankfully oblivious to many of them for either Risai had caught them in time or Yuka had worked with her to gloss them over so that the kirin didn't notice that an attempt had been made. What Yuka was apparently not aware of (for her chief of security hid it from her) was that there were three times as many attacks on the girl's life than were ever attempted on the Taiho. The reason why was stated simply.

 "They want to get rid of the impediment to royal authority and autonomy in the form of the Consort. If they assassinate Taiho then a new one is born on a Riboku and they have to worry about a new dynasty coming in. They get rid of Yuka and they can make the Taiho into their puppet. As long as she remains strong against them, then they cannot rule as they wish and they have someone blocking them at every turn."

 Gyousou turned back to assessing the sory state of his royal court. Out of his sankou, the three advisors which consisted of Taifu, Taishi and Taiho (which was a different rank, confusingly enough, than that saiho-Taiho, Taiki) there were none of them that had survived the purges that Asen had made on the upper ranks. In the interim while he'd been sleeping, Taiki took over the official duties of all three advisors and Yuka had more or less taken on the duties of the chousai in order to curb the excesses of the chousai that was officially appointed (still left over from the reign of the previous king, Kyou-ou). Apparently, since there was no king to settle a question once and for all, Yuka and Taiki had to work things out between them until they could come to a consensus that they could both agree on.

  _:That is another reason why so many of the situations that require swift decisive action are left to languish.:_

 However, not all of them stagnated in a mire of bureaucracy and indecisiveness. Between Yuka and Risai, they had created a small team of elite stealth fighters, ones they could deploy to gather information or make incisive covert strikes. Yuka didn't officially know about them and Risai didn't officially report about them, but in times when the northern shuukou were on the move the two women became awfully fond of taking tea and playing shoji in the garden (a cover for their true activities of circumventing the next movements by the Shuukou).

 While an adept and cunning politician, Yuka relied _entirely_ upon Risai's military advice and the poor general was near-exhausted from handling both the internal security of the palace, the guards stationed around the five provinces under Golden Rule to slay the youma _and_ the covert intelligence gathering and tactical strikes on the rebellious shuukou of the north to deal with.

  _:Risai is doing the job of three generals all at once,:_ Gyousou thought with dismayed admiration.

 He felt humbled by the way those still loyal to him (or to Taiki, in the case of the girl) had pulled together and pitched in to maintain damage control on a volatile situation.

 Risai, it was reported to him by an amused member of his personal staff, spent the morning chasing Lady Yuka around the salle. Her reason was that Yuka should never have been injured by a lone assailant, so she must have been so preoccupied with her political maneuvering that she had neglected to keep honed sharp the skills that would keep her alive. Thus the general had ordered the royal consort stuffed into her "practice robes" (the older, cut up and worn garments they used to keep her in the habit of being able to move defensibly even when mummified in several layers of silk) and proceeded to run her through drills both armed and unarmed, then sparring matches, and finally escape scenarios.

 Gyousou knew of this because Taiki fretted over it. In truth, the necessity of it bothered the king as well as his kirin. Taiki knew that his duty was to escape and stay alive. Gyousou, however, felt his pride was further cut by the fact that _any_ of this was necessary _at all_. Not only was it bad enough that a girl would have to step into the place he should have been able to occupy in the first place (and hold it for longer than most actual anointed kings reigns lasted, despite near-impossible odds and monumental difficulties) it was made just that much worse that she should be attacked inside the royal palace, inside the imperial throne room, at a time when he was awake but not strong enough to protect anyone due to his recent illness. It _really_ bothered him.

  _:It won't bother me for much longer_ ,: he promised himself as he rose out of bed and managed to walk all the way to the other room without having to lean on anyone or anything to aid him in his weakness. He was regaining his strength. Soon he would be back up to fighting trim.

  _:And then...:_ he promised himself. _:Those who have had their way for far too long will find themselves with greater problems to worry about than avoiding what few means the girl has found to control their excesses:_

 Yes, the revelation that he had a wife of necessity was, as the girl herself had put it, _awkward_. However that awkwardness on his part did not stem from the reasons she probably surmised. To Gyousou Saku, Tai's famous general and the whirlwind king, the awkwardness about the situation came from the very fact that it was necessary _at all_. That he had failed his kingdom so badly that some innocent schoolgirl and his own sweet kirin had been forced to step in and shore up such a situation was a mark of deep shame for him. He was not taking it well.

 Taiki and Risai both had urged, however, that he study the situation a little bit more first before wading in and making changes. The reports only covered the high points after all, and it would be wiser to get a better sense of the terrain before he tried to march his troops over it, so to speak. Gyousou understood well the importance of reconnaissance, so he had agreed to their recommendation to attend the meeting of the shuukou that evening but remain hidden to watch the proceedings. he disliked that he was not quite up to strength yet and was forced by necessity to remain in recovery for a while yet. Even he knew that it would be still dangerous to attempt to control the willful shuukou if he wasn't at full strength.


	9. Audaceter calumniare, semper aliquid haeret (slander boldly, something always sticks)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my personal, very favorite chapters. I just had such a fun time writing it I hope you all enjoy reading it!

_:It's hard to believe it's been so long since I've sat on the throne,:_ Gyousou thought as he dressed himself in his back imperial robes. _:To me, I just put this on yesterday.:_

 He found himself seated, hidden behind one of the grand inlaid screens spread out like wings on either side behind the empty throne in one of the lesser audience chambers of Hakkei Palace. The room before him had been set up for a meeting of the nine shuukou: nine individual tables had been spread out in a crescent centered on the dais and the empty throne. The shuukou were seated roughly by geography, with Taiki in the center of them as the lord of Zui province. The northern shuukou were to the left and the southern appointed temporary officials for provinces under Golden Rule were to the right. Gyousou was still surprised that the only familiar face among them was Taiki, all of the other governors had been replaced.

 A gong sounded and majordomo announced that the Royal Consort, acting as mediator for the meeting on behalf of his majesty, would enter. Yuka, walked in from a door off to the left side. She wasn't dressed in black imperial robes, but rather in a more colorful civilian costume, though it was clearly the sort of costume and empress would wear. It was a clever though risky choice. She acted on behalf of royal authority but she did not actually posses any, and her clothes were undeniable proof of that. Still, the robes said that she was a person that could not be touched. She looked very poised, as though she had an unquestionable right to be there when in truth her right to be there was quite questionable. Her manner however was intimidating enough that even her enemies skirted the issue.

 The officials bowed, and the bamboo screen hiding the emperor’s dais was raised half way, to signify that the court without a king enthroned was in session. Yuka stood before the screened dais, faced off with the nine officials. Taiki gave her an encouraging gesture but Gyousou knew that Yuka would not be able to acknowledge it, for she was in the opening stages of nothing less than a major battle in an on going war.

 They got the New Years greetings and the ceremonial toasts with special sake out of the way first… but it started right in after that.

 "Your Grace," said Yujun Kou from Ie Province, one of the northern ones at the corner farthest to the west. "I and my fellow governors of the north officially protest your economic sanctions on our trade of natural resources. Not only is it unfair for you to show such a marked preference for the southern provinces, but it is also quite out of your authority. You overstep yourself."

 "Your Eminence," Yuka addressed him with cool politeness. "The sanctions on your trade stand only because you foolishly insist on trading contraband along with resources. Not only do you dabble in trade on the black market, but you use the funds from that trade to finance your own private armies to the detriment of the kingdom."

 "Such false accusations, your grace," Saku Jin of Bun Province interjected smoothly. "Praytell what is the nature of this contraband you allege."

 "I speak of nothing less than the unauthorized and illegal production of touki, spelled weapons capable of killing an immortal as well as a youma. That as you know, only the ministry of winter is allowed to produce winter blades. Furthermore, any touki produced by said ministry are to be sold only to state-authorized weapons dealers."

 "You have no proof of such shocking allegations!" Sei Aikara of Jou Province, snapped in reply.

 "Gentlemen let us be frank," Yuka replied with cool authority. "If I had no proof, I would not have made them."

 Gyousou couldn't repress a smile and noted that on the right side of the table the various "temporary" appointments for the executed ministers were suppressing smirks of various natures.

 "On the dates of the fourth day of the Rat through the seventh day of the Snake were produced five bespelled swords from the forges in the town of Gyuten in Jou. On the dates of the ninth day of Horse throught the seventh day of Ram the forge in the town of Soushi in the province of Ie produced three daggers, a sword, and a kefar. The names of the smiths were Tei Teppei and Soushi Dai. Those swords were smuggled into a shipment of cloth bound for your private port cities of Shiba and Doushin under the auspices of the merchant Kel Rankin who was paid a sum roughly equivalent to fifty gold ryous to turn a blind eye to the on and offloading of certain particular packages."

 "There are no records of such-" Saku of Bun burst out.

 "Of course there are no official record of such," Yuka mocked coolly. "But the numbers never lie. Now as I was saying. The contraband weapons were then placed in the hold of the ship the Fuujin, under the aegis of Captain Sou Shindai, and forethwith transported to the port of Sekai in Ryuu. Once there the weapons were offloaded into the care of an arms-smuggler by the name of Seichi Hanamodo and then were paid the handsome sum of six thousand gold ryous each for the swords, three thousand for the daggers and seven thousand for the kefar, which I assume was a specialty item and ordered on commission. Said payment was transferred back to the capitol palaces of the respective provinces the weapons came from and was entered onto the official budget under... oh lets see," Yuka pulled a small scroll from her sleeve and examined it. "Ah yes, here it is, "harvest surplus." Very clever. Especially when the lands that were supposedly so fruitful this year have each been abandoned by the families that traditionally hold them, and there has been no record either of increase in farm implements or a local government program to farm using the militia."

 "That is an utterly unfounded accusation!" The governor of Jou replied. "You have no proof of these wild allegations being anything other than unfounded rumor."

 "The cargo manifests of the ship would suggest otherwise. While it is true that the weapons are not labeled as being touki, I do have it on good authority from one of the purchasers who made the transaction in gold for that lovely kefar that the weapon is most effective. See?"

 Yuka pulled up a paper bearing written amounts and the royal seal of En (of all things!).

 "The buyer says he's not quite happy with the quality of the work and would like a refund."

 The men she faced were all adept politicians of the first order, and none of them so much as twitched when she produced the solid proof of her words and their deeds. The dance had begun in earnest.

 "Except, your Grace," Sei of Jou replied with smooth, smug aplomb. "That such weapons were not, in fact contraband at all. Myself, and the other lords can account for each of them through official channels and the weapons production was in fact authorized by the Ministry of Winter. We can even produce documents to that effect, showing that the production and distribution were all above board."

 Which only meant that they could forge documents or bribe an official to do the forging for them.

 "Even if you do have papers from the ministry of winter for those touki,” Yuka replied. “The sale of touki to foreign powers is prohibited, as you know. Furthermore, those weapons can only be sold by court sanctioned weapons dealers under the direct authority of the ministry of winter. Add to that, part of the sale of each weapon goes to the royal treasury. None of my accountants have received such a payment."

 "What your accountants do behind your back is your concern to deal with," Sei, replied just as smooth as cream.

 "And that does not even address why, if your eminences felt that their sale of the touki were all above board, that you felt the need to list your percentage of the payment under false pretences. The sale of those touki were entered into your official budget registries falsely, so if nothing else you have certainly misrepresented and falsified your official budgets."

 She waited, locking gazes with each of them with a sharp poise, waiting for their next answer. Gyousou thought that perhaps she did indeed have them and they would be forced to admit their mistake and put themselves in the hands of official justice, but unfortunately the men who had continued to successfully wage a war of attrition against the Royal Consort were too poised and wily to be caught out on such a detail.

 "Your Grace is most perceptive in that my fellow governors and I did indeed report the profits of our lawful trade as something other than what they had been, however a closer examination of the situation would have brought to light our entirely benevolent reasons for doing so," Tori Korosai of Bun Province spoke.

 "Oh?" Yuka said with her, clearly practiced benign and serene smile out in place. "Please enlighten me, you have my full attention."

 "As you know, due to various circumstances, our provinces produce even less food than they normally would. The decrease in population has not only decreased consumption but production as well. Unfortunately, as your Grace is well aware, fielding an army of any sort, much less one the size needed to keep the peace in our lands, is an expensive undertaking and--"

 "If that is so," Yuka interjected, her smile brightening. "Then please allow myself on behalf of my husband to send relief troops to help alleviate your difficulties with the youma. I would be pleased to be able to be of service to my dear shuukou of the north."

 They knew she was both telling the truth and lying. Gyousou and Risai both exchanged a mutual look of amusement. Risai actually tried hard to contain a snicker. Certainly the Royal Consort would like to send in troops, and probably even to help deal with the youma, but she'd also simply _love_ a pretext to station her own soldiers at key points for both observation and later deployment.

 "Your offer of assistance is generosity itself your grace, but I could not in good conscience strain your husband's resources any further than they already are," the man replied, then his gaze sharpened in challenge. "After all, though it requires certain measures to field, our provincial armies are more than capable of crushing anything in their path."

 That was a threat, and everyone in the room knew it. Gyousou's back muscles tightened and his sword-hand twitched. That provincial lord had just outright challenged royal authority.

 "After all, in size and in strength," Saku Jin, the shuukou of Bun province added where the governor of Ie left off. "You must be aware that our forces are superior to yours."

 "What an interesting observation, Jin-shuukou," Yuka replied in a voice as smooth and slick as ice. "Truly the youma of the high north must fearsome creatures to warrant the increased numbers in military personnel."

 "Perhaps, your Grace," Tori Korosai rejoined with a strangely _intent_ look at her. "It may be my turn to extend an offer of assistance to yourself. I have heard that you were attacked the evening previous and your lovely self injured by an assassin. It is only by the intervention of Heaven I am sure that your life was spared. Clearly, Hakkei Palace is unfit to protect your delicate person, you would be better of placing yourself under my protection. I have the man power to see that you are _well_ taken care of."

 Risai barely smothered a silent snarl at the attack on her efficacy as the head of palace security. The only interest he had in his offer was to take the Royal Consort as a hostage and remove the only obstruction between him and the power of the throne via bossing around the Taiho. The governors were upping the ante, going from mere proxy wars to threatening a march on the capitol city and perhaps even Hakkei Palace itself.

 "That won't be necessary. As I'm certain you have noticed, I am more than equal to whatever is thrown at me, gentlemen," Yuka replied with icy calm.

 Her reply, concise and delivered in a strong, certain tone with such utter poise and confidence threw down the gauntlet. Bring it on.

 "I think what you really need is a _real_ man to take you properly in hand," Korosai-shuukou of Ba Province said.

 The Royal Tai had never seen anyone with the temerity to _leer_ openly in official chambers. Not even in the most lax of the previous king’s reign had there ever been such an egregious lapse in courtly decorum… and to a high-ranked member of the imperial family too!

 Gyousou could only think that after all this time of dealing with them, Yuka actually had ice water running through her veins, because she did not even twitch a muscle at an innuendo that made his hand twitch toward his sword on her behalf. Instead, she smiled her polite, serene smile and said

 "Then your concern is clearly _not an issue_. What is an issue, however is the matter of your port towns."

 Gyousou raised his eyebrows, impressed. Not only had she failed to rise to his bait, her reply had subtly stated that it was "not an issue" because there was no _real_ man there to take her in hand, and she'd glibly moved the conversation on, dismissing him and his comment with mortifying efficiency. Risai was smiling, clearly enjoying the show. The grins on the middle and right ends of the table reflected that they had caught the full implications of her reply and were amused by it.

 "Even if your contention that the sale of those touki are authorized by the ministry of winter is true, I have continued to hear distressing reports that the facilities of your port towns are unsafe," Yuka said, in a masterful change of subject. "As I'm certain you gentlemen are all aware, Tai is dependent on trade to augment its limited arable land and shortened growing season. If we do not bring in money, we cannot buy the necessary supplies to support our population. To that end it is in all of our best interests to encourage trading ships so land in our ports, offload their goods, and pick up our own exports in as timely and efficient a manner as possible. An efficient port is a boon of wealth for our kingdom, for the more shipments we can take in and move out, the more money and supplies we will have. To that end, the news of your inferior and somewhat dangerous ports facilities is distressing to imperial interests."

 "Our port officials are working to the best of thier abilities--" Yujin Kou replied but was smoothly interrupted by Yuka.

 "Which is why I am sure they would all benefit from better port facilities. The imperial technological research and development center has been investigating a way to work around the northern iceflow, especially in winter, and have made some promising developments. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I have reviewed the maps and blue prints as well as charts of various shipments and trade routes and come to the conclusion that your port facilities are in need of a radical overhaul."

  _:Where is she going with this?:_ Gyousou thought, a little nervously.

 By all reports the economy was _just_ stabilized, it wasn't _prosperous_. Building and refitting on the sort of scale she was proposing was an expensive undertaking even for a stable kingdom like En; there was no way Tai would be able to afford it. Beside him, Risai suddenly started, but then on her face appeared a grin that could only be described as anticipatory. Gyousou looked a question at her and she shook her head and signaled that he should continue to watch.

 "Your grace is _all_ generosity in her concern for the trade routes of the north," Yujin of Ie said.

 Gyousou thought he detected just a hair of suppressed alarm in his voice.

 "However I can assure you that the proposed renovations on the northern port towns is entirely unnecessary. How would the imperial budget even support such measures?"

 "I'm sure we could arrange something," Yuka said lightly, verbally maneuvering her opponent now that she had him on the defensive.

 "We couldn't _possibly_ strain the imperial budget by allowing your engineers corps to invade, I mean _improve_ our port cities. No, we are content to continue to trade as we have been. Though less frequent than your southern ports I'm sure, the gems that the springs in the north produce are more than adequate to cover the costs of waiting between shipments."

 "If that is the way you gentlemen feel about it," Yuka said with a shrug. "I suppose I must respect your autonomy in the matter. But you all must at least allow me to help you out with regards to ships. At my behest the imperial technological research division has been looking into something that might help you all get around the limitations of being land-locked by the winter freeze."

 There was a sharp intake in breath on the part of the four shuukou of the north. Gyousou himself was surprised. He was intimately aware that with regards to the northern territories, the window of a battle waged on that turf was framed by the space of time between the melt of spring and the first snows of winter. After the snows fell it was nearly impossible to get an army through the mountain passes and the northern ice flow descended to freeze the ports of the very northern sectors solid, making ship travel around the top of Tai impossible as well. Winter was regarded as a time where war and fighting was impossible simply due to the difficulties in deployment over frozen terrain. Only the crazy or the suicidal ever attempted it. Even Gyousou knew better than to try it.

 "I have ordered improvements in the Royal Navy based on these new advancements," yuka said with a cheerful smile, one that was all teeth. "And I am pleased to announce that the first branch armada of the new Icefire-line ships have just finished construction and are currently on their commissioning and maiden voyages around Tai."

 Yuka signaled to one side and two servants with a large easel holding up a very large drop-cloth map showing the kingdom of Tai with several small paste-ships dotting areas around the north even over areas where patches of blue signified impassable places due to the northern freeze.

 "As you can see these ships are quite capable of working around the incapacitating capabilities of the northern iceflow," Yuka continued. "And they are ready to deploy-- I mean, to deliver supplies and humanitarian aid wherever my dear northern lords might need it."

  _:Ha!:_ he thought with an internal chuckle enjoying just as much as Risai seemed to be, watching the faces of the northern shuukou as the implications of her statement sunk in.

 The supposedly impassable defenses that blocked access to the north by the armies under imperial command had just been breached, big time. Using the ships as a staging platform, she could launch air strikes, raids and to a limited extent even engage in land battles via amphibious warfare. With the mobile capabilities of several ships, strike and run tactics would be feasible and in time even the superior land-forces that the northern provinces had assembled would be seriously threatened.

  _:If she had sense enough and personnel enough, she could gather armies at strategic points along their southern borders come spring and have them caught in a pincer maneuver,:_ Gyousou thought, appreciating as he always did, an excellently played military strategy.

 "I know that the royal navy is mostly used as more of a sort of coast guard, to keep the vicious youma of the sea away from the fishing and trading vessels, but using them as transport for other things only made sense to me, don't you agree?" Yuka said, smiling serenely and locking gazes with each of the opposing lords.

 Her look said what her mouth didn't have to. 'Go ahead, send down your land troops as you threatened earlier, and while they are away fighting I'll deploy from the coast and wipe the floor with you.' Risai looked unbearably pleased both with the girl and with herself. Gyousou figured, based on what Risai had said about the girl relying on her expertise with the military, that this had been an operation cooked up between the two of them.

 Clearly enraged by the woman who forever thwarted them from attaining power over the kingdom (but was in turn, never _quite_ powerful enough to stop them) the shuukou of Ba, Bun, Ie and Jou provinces rose to their feet as one and leaned forward with their hands flat on the table, their demeanors threatening.

 "Even with your supposed naval power, woman" the shuukou of Ba. "The combined military strength of the north far outweighs your own in both weapons and manpower. Furthermore I happen to know for a fact that the imperial army is spread out guarding towns and roads in the south and eradicating youma. Everyone here knows that you will not be able to recall them all in time to hold against us or even launch a counter-strike. And taking the fight into our home territory, where we have all the advantages would be a foolish exercise. Not even the famous general Gyousou Saku, his esteemed helpless majesty, could win a fight against an armed countryside. Face it bitch, you should stick to what you do best; roll on your back and take it like a whore."

 The room was frozen in shock. Even Gyousou was too shocked to react. Yuka looked back at the man however, her demeanor was as poised and aloof as if he had made a comment on the weather.

 "Is that so?" she replied as though only mildly interested in his comment. "Thank-you for the lecture on military strategy Korosai-shuukou, I shall certainly take it under advisement. However, that has little to do with the mandate delivered by the Ministry of Winter for your ports to be temporarily shut down for inspection and possible renovation pending further investigation. Since it is quite important that the gem-springs in provinces Ba, Bun and Jou continue to output in order to defray consumable expenses, your goods will be exported from the Southern ports of Kaien, Shou, Rin, Jakku, and Maru. I realize that the inconvenience of transporting them overland will place some financial burden on you, however, I have gotten the Ministry of Earth to grant you use of the skyway-system at no additional cost to you."

  _:Is she just going to swallow the insult?!:_ Gyousou wondered incredulously.

 Even the old king, flighty hedonist that he'd been, would have had the man's head on a pike for saying such a thing to a woman of her rank, and in imperial chambers no less.

 "No way in hell are we sending our resources south and into your hands, wench," the shuukou of Bun snapped.

 "If sending them south is not amenable to you, good shuukou, then perhaps you would rather use the ships I offered earlier. Either way, it is wasteful not to export your stockpile year round, especially in the lean months at the end of winter. I know you have probably forgotten about such petty concerns, but think of the people you are supposed to be protecting. Your stores of food from the harvest are inadequate and I would not see them starve. It is past time you remembered your duty and acted accordingly."

 "I don't need a lecture from a jumped up trollop in imperial robes, it is you who needs to learn your place," Korosai-shuukou snarled at her.

 "Ah? And where would that place be?" Yuka inquired with a saccharine smile full of teeth.

 "On your knees," he said, his voice echoing into the stillness. "Sucking my cock."

  _:Dead man walking,:_ Gyousou thought grimly, reaching for his sword.

 Recently recovered or not there was only so much he could listen to and remain silent. Whether Gyousou had consented to the marriage or not, in the eyes of heaven and the laws, the woman whom they had just cast aspirations on was the Royal Consort and they knew it. To disrespect her was the same as disrespecting him directly. Risai, however grabbed his arm and signaled urgently for him to stay his hand and be still yet.

 Yuka, for her part, simply regarded the man with an unchanged expression. Maybe Gyousou and Risai were the only ones to see the tension in her shoulders that belied her calm demeanor. Her voice was flat and quiet when she said

 "I am going to ignore that with a dignity it does not deserve, Korosai-shukou, but if you speak in this chamber again I will have the source of this contention of yours removed from its place between your legs."

 The dead man rose from his chair and walked deliberately in front of the Royal Consort and leered down at her, looking her up and down like a sailor assessing the assets of a dockside floozy, deciding which delight he wanted to sample first.

  _:He's weaving on his feet.:_ Gyousou noted. _:Is he **drunk**?:_

 "We both know how powerless you are. Your navy and all of your ground and air forces put together aren't enough to hold off a seige by even one of us. But there's no reason why we can't play things a little more _friendly_."

 The man had the very brass balls to look down the Royal Consort’s cleavage.

 "The winters get cold up north, I could use a woman with fire and spirit to warm my bed up at night."

 "You," Yuka said with cold contempt. "Wouldn't know what to do with her."

 The shuukou raised a hand to slap her and Yuka stood her ground and stared him down.

 "Do it!" she commanded him. "That's all the pretext I need. Or perhaps you have forgotten what happened to the last fools who laid a hand on me."

 Yuka shifted her cool gaze significantly to where the four "temporary" provisional governors sat on the right of the table, their mouths hanging open in aghast shock at the scene before them. Her meaning was clear, if he laid a finger on her, that would be all the grounds she'd need to call him out.

 "No matter how debased you are, I am the representative of the crown you supposedly still serve. Remember your place shuukou."

 After a long tense moment, the idiot actually, finally backed down. Gyousou then saw the purpose in the exercise. The instant the man backed down, Royal authority was reaffirmed in both their eyes and the eyes of the crown's supporters.

  _:Another of her mental manipulations, a power-play_ ,: Gyousou realized, not certain whether to admire her for it or simply walk out and behead the man. He was leaning heavily toward the latter.

 "As for the rest who have arrayed yourselves against me, and by extension the crown," Yuka pointed a finger directly at the man who had just swore at her in imperial chambers and offered harm to her person. " _This_ man is the example of you that everyone will remember. Whether you consider yourselves autonomous liberators or protectors of the true traditions of your people, history will remember _this_ moment."

 She turned away from the dead-while-still-standing-shuukou and faced the rest of the northern shuukou arrayed against her. Yuka paced regally in front of them, her manner poised and sincere.

 "This senseless proxy war we wage is nothing more than a war of attrition, and those are wars that no-one truly wins. The best we can hope for is that both sides get ground down until they are forced to negotiate. The Taiho and I, and I'm sure his majesty too if he were here, have no desire to see a single drop of blood spilled on the battlefield."

  _:I wouldn't mind seeing a few drops spilled here and now, however,:_ Gyousou thought darkly.

 "A compelling speech to be sure, your Grace," the shuukou of Bun said. "But it changes nothing. We see no reason to submit ourselves to your weak rule when all here know that there is no action you can take against us."

 Gyousou was half a step away from getting up and walking over to sit on the throne and put those shuukou in their place, but Risai again stopped him.

 "Wait until the full session tomorrow," she urged. "Taiki will want to be at your side when you again take your place. You owe him that much at least."

 The rightful king reluctantly nodded. He could not deny that his kirin deserved to be at his liege's side when he started putting the kingdom to rights, he would not deny him that.

 "She's proven what she needs to prove," Risai added a moment later. "I imagine that this meeting will wrap up rather shortly from here."

 "If that is your answer," Yuka replied. "I can see that further negotiation will be useless at this point. Go and reflect on your actions. In his majesty's name I give you leave to depart."

 The gong was struck and the four shuukou filed out. The five that remained, including Taiki still sat there, exchanging incredulous looks. As Yuka bowed politely at them and turned to leave the way she had entered one of the shuukou, a young-looking woman from Chou province called out to her.

 "Your Grace, I am still so shocked about what happened that I can barely breathe! How did you withstand such treatment from him, the things he said! And then he threatened to _hit_ you!"

 Yuka smiled a small secret smile, almost looking amused and said

 "Everything went according to plan, for the most part, though I had not imagined anything so dramatic. I suppose he can't take it very well."

 "Take what, your grace?" the other girl, Aoi Sakuraba from Ki province said.

 "Smell his toasting cup," Yuka replied.

 Curious, they leaned over and did so, then quickly jerked back, surprised.

 "It's so powerful!" Seijida-shuukou of Sui Province said, putting a cloth to his nose.

 "Nearly three times as powerful as regular sake," Yuka confirmed with a nod.

 "You're saying you got him drunk?!" Taiki said, surprised.

 "I'm saying I loosened his tongue," Yuka corrected blandly. "He was already arrogant, and he already harbored those feelings, he just needed a little guidance to bring them out in the open in a way that would be advantageous for me."

 "How is having him swear at you or try to hit you and advantage?" Aoi asked.

 "He may have done those things," Yuka allowed. "But even partly drunk he recognized the authority of the crown and backed down in the end. That was all the victory I needed. The authority of the emperor is still in tact and he and his cohorts now know it."

"What if he hadn't backed down?" Taiki asked next.

 "Then I would have one less problem to deal with."


	10. calamii cum nomenes (arrows with names)

Yuka had held onto her temper through the meeting only by dint of long practice. Even if she had manipulated the situation into the outcome she wanted, it did not mean that the comments directed at her had not pissed her off.

  _:Some things truly are universal,:_ Yuka growled to herself as she tried hard not to storm back to her quarters.

 As the Royal Consort, Yuka had to look at all times like the elegant and poised lady, even when she was pissed to the highest level of pissivity.

 "There are bullies, no matter where you go."

 Even when it had happened, Yuka Sugimoto had never been quite certain what had tipped the other kids at school into making her the outcast. She'd liked books and she wasn't much for small talk, but she still didn't see how that had given people cause to make her a social pariah. Yuka had found quickly that the situation only escalated if she opened her mouth to put the girls doing the bullying in their place, so she'd reluctantly learned to keep quiet. Even if it was on a larger scale, bullying was still bullying, and played by essentially the same rules. Bullies were not cowards, bullies were people who had power, liked abusing their power because it made them feel even _more_ powerful, and wanted to go on doing it for as long as they could possibly get away with it.

  _:Dealing with essential helplessness day in and day out sure isn't doing anything to lower my stress levels!:_

 Meiden Palace was the place where Yuka had been assigned (or maybe it was simply that she and Taiki and Risai between the three of them had annexed it) to live in for her duration as Royal Consort. Instead of being on the eastern side of the inner palace where the old king had kept his harem of concubines, Risai had ordered space cleared on the other side of Seiden Palace, which was where the emperor's rooms were and the place that Taiki lived in. Yuka and Taiki were like roommates or close neighbors. Taiki's suite of rooms was connected with the rooms that Yuka had taken over, which might have been his but he generously moved over and made space for her.

  _:Though the first thing I did was have my own bathing chamber put in_ ,: Yuka thought with a little humor.

 Taiki and the emperor shared the imperial garden, which separated Taiki's chambers from the rooms where the king was kept. Taiki could just run across the garden and slip in through the back door into his master’s chamber to visit with him. Yuka got the "front rooms" which were the ones facing out and adjoining a small side courtyard, and that was more than fine with her.

  _:Even though he was asleep, I was not exactly comfortable with the idea of sharing such an open place with a strange man.:_

 Seiden Palace and its mirror Meiden Palace had undergone some changes by Risai and her guards to make them more easily defensible. They were still very lovely. Without at least one safe place to retreat to from prying eyes and incessant demands, Yuka may well have gone crazy.

 "Ladies!" Yuka snapped out as she reached the sanctuary of her rooms and quickly stripped out of the elaborate multiple layers of the beautiful robes she had worn to court and passed them off into the hands of her room maids while she changed into a quipao and the shortened pants she wore for training. In the small garden she had taken over for herself a bevy of her "attendant ladies maids" that were in actuality, her bodyguards that followed her everywhere, assembled.

 "I've had a difficult evening," she said as she exited into the garden cum training yard. "And I need to relieve some stress."

 Each according to their natures, the bodyguard-maids looked either resigned or anticipatory. When Yuka was stressed, she worked out her distemper by a good, long fight. It both relieved her stress and kept her skills sharp.

 "We had heard about the unendurable insults you have had to tolerate heaped upon your name, Your Grace," the head battle-maid and the closest thing to a girlfriend Yuka had in the palace report with her customary solemnity. She was a serious woman and took her duties to protect her lady seriously.

 "Wow, news travels fast," Yuka muttered, not surprised. The servants heard everything in that place.

 "We have prepared the touki," another girl said, smiling and bringing forth the weapon.

 "Thank-you, and I apologize in advance," Yuka said as she took up her customary fan bowed to signify that she was ready to begin.

 Inspired by the kill-strike she had once made on Youko that did _not_ kill her because Yuka had been wielding Suiguutou at the time (which could not be used against its master), Yuka had gotten the Ministry of Winter to create a very special sort of touki for her, for training purposes. There was a spell on the weapon that would make it so that it would not actually hurt anyone. If a strike was made that would, in real life have cut off an arm, the weapon passed harmlessly through the appendage leaving behind only a glowing line. The severed portion would glow either blue or red depending on the color of the weapon and that color would seep up signifying loss of blood. Furthermore, with wounds that had bloodloss, the victims sight would color slightly from one side to the other, and when the color covered their vision completely that signified that they had bled out. The training touki were intensely useful. Yuka could learn how to both make and counter kill-strikes using weapons that felt like the real thing but were not. Though being on the receiving end of a kill strike _stung_.

 Yuka darted in, taking on her ladies in her customary aggressive manner, working off the stress of her earlier humiliation with a good long fight. At her request, her battle-maids were former assassins and spies rather than the usual rank-and-file military guards. Yuka had once been trained as an assassin by the king of Kou, though up until she joined the battle to liberate Tai she'd never actually killed anyone. She figured that the best way to stop an assassination was to surround herself by those who knew the business. As an added plus, over the years the ladies had rounded out her training. Now, they all sparred with each other for fun, or in Yuka's case, stress relief.

 The way these ladies (and Yuka by extension) fought often looked more like a beautiful acrobatic dance than actual combat, but it was a deadly business to them, and they kept their skills razor sharp. Yuka managed to take out five of them before she was killed by a hind strike. Among the ranks of sages, it seemed that there were immortals and _immortals_ , rarely were there ones like the kings, who were invulnerable to nearly anything. Yuka was actually fairly delicate for an immortal; she was only immune to many poisons, not all of them, and her ability to regenerate from serious wounds was not as strong as many. That was why Risai and her ladies trained her so hard in how to defend herself. If she were not highly trained then a good assassin would still be able to kill her almost as easily as if she'd been mortal. After that round they separated and deconstructed the move, then the head guard went over counter-tactics to that move and ways to watch out for it. By that time Yuka had cooled down, and was feeling more mellow. And it would have been rude for her to ignore her uninvited guest while she was on break.

 Leaned against a doorjamb, apparently admiring the show, was the king who had just woken up. Yuka had to restrain a surprised reaction nearly every time she saw him move or make a facial expression. It was just so _weird_ seeing him move around after all this time of him lying perfectly still.

  _:I've never seen him standing up before, he looks very different,:_ she realized with a small shock.

 He was taller than she had thought he would be. And broader in the shoulder. It seemed a bit off that a man who had been in stasis sleep for decades should emerge from it looking so physically well. Even in ordinary clothes with no armor, she would have been wary of engaging him as an opponent due to his size and physical superiority.

 The king stepped down into her courtyard and Yuka's battle maids bowed and exited quietly, apparently intent on giving them some time alone. Yuka glared at their retreating backs from the corner of her eye.

  _:Traitors,:_ she thought.

 To their credit, they all thought that the two of them were an adoring husband and wife separated for many long decades, rather than the awkward situation that was the reality.

 "Good evening your majesty," Yuka said with a polite bow as she wiped the sweat off her face with a towel. "I apologize for my appearance, you have caught me in dishabille."

 "No apology is necessary," he replied. "I am the one who has intruded on you."

  _:He has... a very nice voice,:_ Yuka thought.

 It was deep without being basso, with a very pleasant rough quality to it that appealed to her the same way she liked many of the signing voices of certain rock groups (at least back when she'd lived in Japan). It was a very masculine voice.

 Yuka waited, looking steadily back at him, to see if there was any particular reason that he had intruded on her fight and all but dismissed her sparring partners with his presence. After a long moment, he looked a bit discomfited.

  _:He probably has no idea what to say to me, any more than I know what to say to him,:_ Yuka realized.

 As she had imagined it would be, the situation was awkward. There was not _one_ white elephant, but rather and entire _herd_ of them, tap dancing in the dining room. Yuka had never been one for small talk, and apparently neither was he. So they just sort of looked at each other for a long moment. Then his eye fell on the weapons neatly placed on the rack nearby. Interested, or maybe just looking for something to say to break the ice with, he picked one up.

 "A touki," he said with mild surprise. "But I have never sensed a spell like this before. What does it do?"

 Yuka explained her need for a true weapon that would let her practice with a real blade without having to fear hurting anyone, and then went on to explain the intricate detailed workings of the spell and its applications. She even gave him a short demonstration of how it worked. Gyousou made admiring noises that sounded genuinely appreciative and eyed one of them speculatively.

 "I wouldn't recommend it right away," Yuka cautioned him, reading the look. He wanted to try one out. Yuka knew that Taiki would be concerned if he did, after having just gotten his king back, Taiki would fret about every little thing possibly hurting him until he was assured that Gyousou was well. He would probably be a while in the reassurance stage.

 "You just woke up last night, and started moving around today," she added. "You need to be more cautious than that because if you rush yourself too fast you'll get hurt."

 "You sound like Taiki," he said with a sigh, giving in and placing the sword back on the rack.

 "He cares about you," was Yuka's reply.

 "And you care about him," Gyousou said with a nod, as though confirming something.

 Yuka looked back at him, _that_ went without saying. She wouldn't be here were it otherwise.

 "I must tha-"

 "Don't thank me," she cut him off. "I'm here for a friend. I'm here for Taiki and that's all that matters, so I don't need any thanks from you. Just rule well from this point forward."

 Gyousou stared at her, nonplussed for a minute.

 "You would deny me even an expression of gratitude, you are a harsh person."

 "Yes," Yuka acknowledged. "If you must be grateful, express it by paying attention to your kingly duties. And take care that Taiki will never... _fall ill_. That will be the thanks I need."

 "I feel rebuked," he replied.

 Yuka sighed a little bit, that had not really been her intent. She was a fine politician, but sometimes she was just _fail_ at interpersonal relationships, namely her own.

 "That was not my intent," she replied, then smiled a little ruefully at herself and shook her head "Well, maybe not entirely anyway. I don't know you. I only have what Taiki and those people who knew you have to say about you to go on. I'm uncomfortable not having been able to form my own opinion of you."

 "I do not believe we've even been formally introduced, though I heard that we have been married."

 His smile was surprisingly charming, and showed some of the kindness that Taiki had told her about.

 "I am Gyousou Saku, previously General of the Right of the Forbidden Army now anointed King of Tai."

 "Yuka Sugimoto," she replied in the same spirit. "Previously an honor student at Jindai High School, currently acting as an advisor to the Taiho and Royal Consort to the King of Tai for the interim."

 "You have not had time to form an opinion of me, and I have the feeling you're more of a wait and watch sort of person anyway, but if you would like you may ask me any question you wish o know and I'll try to answer it."

 Yuka regarded him for a long moment, then shrugged, turning back to the moon shining on the small koi pond in her courtyard.

 "General Risai has told me about how you had set up the court to run during an interregnum to help defray the mismanagement of the old king," she said at last, without preamble. "And also how you conducted a winter hunt for corrupt officials while Taiki was away acting as a diplomat to Ren."

 The sharp look in her eyes told him that Yuka had her own guesses as to the _convenient_ timing of the diplomatic mission.

 "You seem like a capable enough leader, how is it that Asen got the drop on you?"

 Gyousou smiled a little ruefully.

 "As adept a politician as you have proven yourself, you certainly can be direct when it suits you," he commented.

 Yuka waited.

 "Part of the matter was... impatience," Gyousou said with what for him must have been painful honesty. "Since I had taken the throne, matters in the Royal Court had been quickly put into order as I had wished them to, however the countryside was still in a state of civil war due to the excesses of the late king. I am certain that you of all people are aware of the _usual_ problems here in Tai."

 "Intimately," Yuka replied with a nod that said go on.

 "I am, or was, a general of some note. The problem in Bun Province seemed _made_ for me to handle, plus I have a good connection with the people there. I felt that this would be a good opportunity to show myself and reassure my people that I would be the king they were hoping for. You see, they had put up with a great deal from the previous king, who was well known for his excesses. I knew I could calm the fears of the people, and if they knew they no longer need fear a crown who abused their faith then matters would settle down that much more quickly."

 Yuka's usual cool mask warmed a bit in approval.

 "However, Asen knew of my wish to stabilize the civilians and created the revolt simply as a way to draw me out. Mingled in with the normal rabble were highly trained mercenary agents assigned to neutralize my guard and to take me down. I recall thinking at the time that the fighters were unusually efficient for civilians with no training and then everything went black. I woke up in a cave somewhere, chained hand and foot and then Asen entered, revealing himself and his intentions. Before he set the Choukoku on me, he detailed exactly how he was going to ruin the kingdom I had worked to stabilize. By keeping me alive but incapacitated, he would see that the land I love would forever know only darkness."

 Yuka felt a surprisingly deep pang for him. Though Gyousou's voice was very carefully even, there was a roughness to his tone that spoke of careful control. She also noticed that when he was distressed he had a very faint accent that she could not quite place.

 "I fought against Asen," she replied. "Not directly, but when I led the armies of Kei and En to reconquer Tai in your and Taiki's name. I'm probably not as familiar with him as _you_ are seeing as I have only met him face to face on the day that I exiled him."

 Gyousou looked at her incredulously.

 "He's still _alive_?!" the king snapped in dismay.

 "Taiki did not wish to have him executed," Yuka replied, though her tone gave away the fact that Yuka didn't really share his quality of mercy. "And since I'm only the Royal Consort and not the actual ruler, I was unable to revoke his status as an immortal. He is currently being kept on the Isle of Nen, in the Sea of Emptiness south of Tai. But anyway, as I was saying, Asen is a military man much like yourself, but he's also cunning as a snake."

 "And yet, you kept him _alive_ ," Gyousou felt obliged to point out.

 "And imprisoned," Yuka replied, slightly defensively. "On the day I exiled him, he said something to me that I've never been quite certain what to make of. He said that he acted out of the interests of his kingdom. That a ravaged land was better than what you would have made it had you sat upon the throne. Considering everything I've gone through to keep this land from getting any more ravaged, you'll have to forgive me if I request an explanation. After all, Taiki is still in your care, I need to be certain of you, and that he will be safe there."

 "You don't trust me."

 "I don't know you. You have many supporters, but I cannot afford to ignore your detractors as well."

 Gyousou sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, clearly discomfited but at last cleared his throat a little and said

 "I do not know if he told you this or not, but Asen and I essentially grew up together. We were cadets of the same year at the military academy, and close as brothers. As I'm sure you can imagine there was the usual boyhood competition between us, some of them he won and some of them I won."

 "Oh dear, I think I see where this is going. There's a girl involved in this somewhere, isn't there?"

 "Indeed," Gyousou replied with a grave nod. "She was a nobleman’s daughter, a noblewoman of high rank. Neither I nor Asen were of a background high enough to approach her, but if we climbed ranks in the military... Well, that's how it began. We reached the rank of Captain in our respective units at the same time and courted her at the same time."

 "Sounds like a fiasco," Yuka commented.

 "Neither of the two of us doubted our capability to win her," Gyousou said.

 "I hope she threw you both over," Yuka said dryly.

 "She did not," Gyousou replied with dignity. "But neither did she favor us. Her father however, interceded. He did not wish for his daughter to enter a military House on the basis that such careers easily rose and fell. If Asen or I could prove that we could attain a truly high and stable position then he would hear our cases for courtship. And so we worked to become generals. I outshone General Asen however, and was awarded the county seat of Saku."

 "So you got the girl and he was jealous?!" Yuka said incredulously. "That's what all of this nonsense is about?"

 "Not entirely," Gyousou cleared his throat and looked extremely embarrassed. "Before I had managed to attain my rank as the count of Saku, her father had already promised her hand to another, a man she did not love. Patience has never been a virtue of mine, it is sad to say. When she asked me to help her out of the situation, I saw a favorable opportunity. I stole her away from her house and we were married in secret."

 Yuka looked at him in surprise.

 "Really? You completely don't seem the sort. I mean, you seem so virtuous and upright. Hey, do I need to worry about any ex-wives popping up out of the woodwork?"

 "If that were so, they would have shown up by now," he replied. "As you can imagine, Asen was enraged by our duplicity, he felt that _he_ should have been the one she turned to, but she loved _me_. Her father disowned her, but by this point I had secured a high enough position that I could support her comfortably."

 "Didn't she work?" Yuka asked curiously.

 In her own world it was becoming more common, though it was by far not universal, that a woman would have a career and produce income to augment the husband's salary. In the world of the twelve kingdoms, due to the fact that the women here did not give birth and thus were not automatically locked into the role of stay at home wife and mother by the "biology" argument, it was far more common that both genders had careers of their own. Yuka's question was a valid one, all things considered.

 "She was a delicate woman," Gyousou said, a little defensively.

 "Not judging," Yuka said raising her arms placating. "So you married a delicate flower and then what?"

 "At this point I had become not just a general in the Palace Guard of the Right, but the count of Saku County and had begun my work to shore up the imperial court, which had begun to fray around the edges. My work kept me away from home, visiting the imperial court, as well as quelling civil revolts in various places around the country. During this time Isana became ill. I was busy in Bun province at the time and could not get away to see her. I wrote often, but the conflict there was a delicate matter and I could not get away to see her."

 "Was that that "Tetsui sheild" business I've heard about?" Yuka asked.

 "The very same," he nodded. "So as you can imagine it required careful monitoring. During the months I was away, my wife, though she was seen by the best healers, and given every treatment, became sicker and sicker. I could do little more than write to her. She died while I was away, still dealing with the civil conflict."

 "Oh..." Yuka said, suddenly aware of how now the situation they were in currently was even _more_ awkward. Not only had she all but demanded an explanation from him that had brought up something that was undoubtedly quite painful, but she found that he had already been married, and that the one he loved had died. A simple 'I'm sorry' seemed completely inadequate. Still…

 "I'm sorry," Yuka said. Then her mind turned sharp and the obvious conclusion came unbidden from her mouth, much her mortification.

 "So _that's_ what he meant. He must have seen everything that happened, and believed you were the sort of person that wants something and impatiently goes to grab it, but then when he has it, loses interest and neglects it."

 She winced.

 "So he must have feared you'd neglect the kingdom or something." She paused for a beat, thinking about it. "But that doesn't actually make sense to me. He had to have seen for himself how you worked to straighten matters out. And if he was so concerned with Tai's future, why go to all the trouble to lay waste to everything?"

 "Revenge," Gyyousou said simply. "He wanted to punish me for destroying the woman he loved. In his eyes, I chose Tai over Isana, so he felt that the kingdom deserved to be destroyed because it was because of Tai that she had died, at least in his eyes."

 "Crazy," was Yuka's flat opinion.

 "You've never been in love have you?" Gyousou replied, looking over at her. "Forgive me for saying so, but you look quite young."

 "If I had never stepped in to help Taiki manage things, I would be over sixty years old right now," Yuka ppointed out, a bit defensively. "I'd be an old granny, happily married with ten kids and a hundred grandkids. Instead I chose _this_."

 She made a vague gesture to encompass everything around her, meaning the palace and a life as the Royal Consort of a divided court and kingdom wothou an active king.

 "It is a rare person who would risk so much to help out a friend," Gyousou commented.

 "You shouldn't think that I'm the epitome of a virtuous person," Yuka cautioned him.

 Even if it had been many years ago, there had been a time when Yuka had been so ruthless and ambitious that she had thrown away friendship and loyalty in order to seize a destiny she felt was hers by right of strength. She had been utterly ruthless in her drive to hunt down and kill a person who had never once done her any harm, all because she wanted something. That core of ruthlessness was part of her still, and she relied on Taiki's advice to keep her morals in check.

 "From where I stand you seem almost dauntingly virtuous," Gyousou replied. "You've stepped in to hold together an untenable situation, and against all odds succeeded in a most surprising manner. All for the sake of helping a friend, how is this not virtuous?"

 "I haven't always been like this," Yuka replied. "And even if it seems peaceful, it requires a different kind of ruthlessness to move people around to your will."

 "Yes I suppose it does," he agreed. "On an entirely different note. Do you wish for me to kill that shuukou who insulted you today?"

 Yuka smiled and said

 "I have a better idea..."

 She walked into her chamber, fished through her wardrobe for a minute and removed a long, thin wooden box then placed it before Gyousou and gestured he should open it. With a curious look at her, the king did so. The inside of the felt-lined box held four perfect arrows. He looked a question at her, mystified as to their significance. Yuka pointed to the shaft of each where a single set of kanji had been carved into the sides and inlaid with silver. Four names; the names of the Shuukou of Ie, Ba, Bun and Jou provinces respectively.

 "May I have your permission to send these gifts, your majesty," Yuka said with a smile that was all teeth.

 Gyousou blinked for a moment then threw his head back and laughed a deep, rich laugh. If nothing else, it seemed the ice had been broken.


	11. Abusus Non Tollit Usum (misuse does not remove use)

Taiki slept soundly on a long, soft couch at the foot of Gyousou's bed, apparently it was a place where he had often slept while Gyousou had been unconscious. He and Risai were currently in his office, reviewing possible military maneuvers that could be made if the northern province’s refused to settle down quietly. Examining the map carefully and reviewing the information that Risai and the spies under the Royal Consorts command Gyousou found his soldiers instincts were warning him about something.

 "Something's not right," he said with disquiet as he continued to study the map of forts and recent northern troop deployment.

 "Forgive me your majesty," Risai replied. "But there is a great deal in Tai that is not right."

 "I meant about the troop positioning. Look at them all, these are not the deployments of the provincial armies of several provinces working separately. There is one unifying strategy here."

 "The four northern shuukou _are_ all working together against the consort," Risai pointed out.

 "Even acting cooperatively, they would not have agreed on such a unified strategy. These northern provincial armies are acting like the arms of one singular army. There is a defense skeleton in place that makes equal use of all points of terrain, but with the shuukou being as greedy and self-interested as they are, there _should_ be some of those troops being held back to protect individual interests. But there are none. And see here..."

 Gyousou pointed to a place on the map, and abandoned trade post right beside a major east-west artery.

 "This place should be crawling with suspicious soldiers of both of those provinces under the guise of "keeping the peace" but in actuality making sure that their own province's interests are secured, and yet it is all but abandoned by the military in order to man the border posts along the south. If the idea is to defend against southern incursion then that is the correct move to make, but I can't believe that the self-interested shuukou would not look after the trade routes that bring them the luxuries they crave. Most especially when Lady Yuka has put such an effective economic stranglehold on them."

 Risai examined the map and saw what he was talking about.

 "That is... interesting. It _does_ look like there's a unified strategy. I had not seen it before now."

 Gyousou frowned at the map, a thought clearly occurring to him.

 "Those lords were put into place by Asen, who, I have just found out, is still alive. Had it not occurred to anyone that he could be running an army from his cell using the four northern shuukou as puppets?"

 "No form of word, no messages or letters, get out of the Isle of Nen," Risai said. "The lady Yuka has forbidden him to even have paper."

 "Unless he has an agent on the inside," Gyousou countered.

 "I do not think that is possible. The contingent set to guard him was carefully chosen just for that reason."

 "I know the way he strategizes inside and out," Gyousou said flatly. "This is his work."

 Risai continued to study the map, then slowly, reluctantly nodded.

 "I do not know how such a thing is possible, but I must defer to your knowledge in such a case."

  _:This is why kirin do not rule kingdoms,:_ Gyousou thought grimly to himself.

 He loved Taiki, and there was never a more gentle or compassionate kirin in all of the twelve kingdoms, but at the same time, Tai was not a kingdom that could be ruled by being gentle. The girl was well-meaning to acquiescence to the Taiho in many matters, and he could sense that she often did so against what she felt might have been a better decision if some of the acerbic comments in her notes were anything to go by (He rather liked the girl he read on paper), but sometimes being too gentle, especially when dealing with a clear threat, was worse than being too hard.

 Risai turned to a nearby servant, a trustworthy one who had been in the palace during the reigns of the last five emperors.

 "I know it is just past dawn, but go to the Royal Consort's chambers and see if she will attend here," the lady genreal said.

 Gyousou looked a dubious question over at her and said

 "I had thought that Lady Yuka relied on you for all military matters."

 "For the most part yes," Risai said. "But her ability to discern intents from very few clues often leaves me surprised. I think she would be of help in this matter."

 A few minutes later Yuka appeared in the doorway, clearly having been roused from her bed for she wore little more than a hou over her sleeping clothes and her long dark hair was still rumpled from sleep instead of neatly brushed.

 "General? What is--?" Yuka cut herself off after she caught sight of Gyousou awake and fully dressed. Her cheeks pinkened in embarrassment.

 "Ah, forgive me, I was not expecting you," she said turning and ducking back through the doorway in embarrassment.

 "Forget so soon that I was awake, did you?" he questioned dryly with some amusement.

 There was the whisper of soft footsteps and a few minutes later the girl re-emerged more fully clothed and with her hair brushed and put up in a simple braid.

 "It may take some time to adjust, your majesty," she replied.

 "Risai and I were just reviewing the northern troop movements and I've come to an apparently startling conclusion. The armies of the north are being secretly commanded by Asen from his prison on the Isle of Nen."

 "Hmm..." Yuka said, giving his statement careful consideration as she poured herself a cup of tea and put honey in it. "Not _im_ possible I suppose. After all, Napoleon managed a come-back once. But Asen receives no visitors, and the guard posted there is switched out regularly and with people loyal to crown authority. Still, with traitors infesting the woodwork of Tai like termites I suppose it's entirely possible."

 The calm, matter-of-fact way she simply accepted his statement was in itself a bit disconcerting.

 "That's all?" Gyousou questioned, a little irritated. "You hear my greatest enemy possibly has martial control over half of the kingdom and you're not concerned by that?"

 "I _said_ he was cunning as a snake, didn't I? And nearly all of the problems I have had have been with people he has put into place that I cannot get rid of without violating the Laws of Heaven," Yuka replied. "So yes. I'd suggest you refrain from allowing him to draw you out this time."

 "It is a sad fact, your majesty," Risai interjected as Gyousou sent a scowling glare in Yuka's direction for her levity. "But we have had to grow accustomed to both a government and a military that works against us. We must begin every plan with the assumption that it will be compromised."

 "I find it is usually best to layer my strategies if I must move at all," Yuka recommended. "Or to do several things at once that seem to have nothing to do with one another, and have at lest two of those things be decoys leading eyes away from my real goals. It's a pain in the neck but one fights with the weapons one has on hand."

 "The armies of the north must be dealt with regardless," Gyousou said.

 Yuka must have been adept at reading even a stranger’s face for the next words out of her mouth surprised him.

 "You think that he has been using my economic proxy wars to keep me distracted while he plans something else."

 "What does the map tell you?" Gyousou said by way of answer.

 "Nothing," Yuka replied. "I don't understand army-type stuff. If you ask me to discern the lucrative capabilities of a certain trade route, or to expand an already well known good into a new market, there I can help you. If you ask me about moving an army from one place to another I'm afraid it's not going to happen."

 "Think of an army like a trade route then," he said patiently.

 "Armies are not profitable," Yuka said flatly. "All they do is consume resources. I would have cut them off for running too many years in the red."

 Gyousou was surprised into a snort of laughter and regarded her for another long moment. Finally he said

 "Very well, I shall explain it to you. Asen possesses superior numbers and a defensible stronghold in the north but is limited by how and at what times he can deploy his forces. Your armies here to the south of what you seem to have come to call the northern line are more mobile due to the infrastructure you have put into place to get around the dangers of winter travel. Ingenious by the way, very well thought-out and executed."

 "And it pays for itself too," Yuka preened a bit at that.

 "He knows as well as you do that fielding an army is an expensive undertaking. However, much of the kingdoms former wealth came from the multitude of gem and gold springs that dot the northern terrain."

 "Which is why I've been limiting the amount he can trade, even on the black market," Yuka protested. "I had hoped to limit the size of the armies that way."

 "And I believe you were partly successful," Gyousou replied. "The positions of his troops are good, but they are not optimal. Simply put, I believe he is making the best of a situation that is not as stable as he would like it to be. There are numerous holes, especially if he plans to attack any time soon."

 "Well why _now_ then, if you're right and he does plan to attack soon?" Yuka asked. "The northern shuukou and I have been in a cold war--"

 At Gyousou's questioning look Yuka explained that a cold war was essentially a fight were both sides were so powerful that actually engaging in combat would be undesirable, so a great deal of sabre rattling and espionage went on. She and the northern shuukou had been like two war-dogs on either side of a yard growling at each other, but not quite daring to attack.

 "For decades,” she continued after her brief explanation. “Why would he attack now? Especially if he does not realize you are awake and able to take the throne. Besides, even if that were not true, attacking would be foolish. He knows I can still command the imperial army, attacking me would destroy him anyway."

 "I do not believe that this is truly about a desire to seize power," Gyousou replied gravely. "He still wishes revenge. In the end, he wants to watch it all burn."

 "How would he convince his troops to fight thier own people in the first place..."

 Yuka looked at the map again and her face drained of color as a realization hit her.

 "The economic war," she said. "The south is far more wealthy now than the north and that's how he's getting them to attack thier own people. He's been creating resentment not just against the crown but against their fellow countrymen based on the divide in wealth and prosperity. The armies that Asen and his followers lead no doubt think they will sweep down, loot the prosperous cities and ports then retreat to their northern stronghold like vikings!"

 "Like what?" he asked, then shook his head. "Either way, for a woman who claims not to understand military strategy, you certainly grasp _that_ well enough."

 "Sheesh, this is why I dislike military affairs," Yuka grumbled to herself, sipping her now-tepid tea. "It's so inelegant and unprofitable!"

 Risai and Gyousou exchanged an amused glance. It seemed the interim ruler disliked getting her hands dirty.

 "If what you say really is so, what are you planning to do about it?" Yuka asked next.

 "Get rid of the source of the threat, first of all," Gyousou muttered darkly.

 He straightened decisively and said

 "General Risai, I want you to pull all available troops from their stationed posts in the towns and ports and patrolling along the major roads, you may keep a skeleton guard in place but the majority of the troops I want have assembled in Zui Province along the south west border. I’ll tell you how I want the troops divided later when I have a little more information to go on and can perfect my strategies."

 "Sir!" she said, snapping to attention.

 "Have Special Response Teams assembled for skirmishing activities on the east coast and to prevent the enemy from either taking in or exporting supplies."

 "Muster and preparations for deployment will take a week, especially if we use the skyway system to transport the troops," Risai said.

 "I will deal with the Provinicial Governors of the northern Provinces later this evening, losing their leadership should throw enough chaos into the works for us to begin our campaign effectively. With any luck, the _true_ mastermind will be caught off-guard and we will have forced him to move up his plans, thus disrupting them. As for announcing that I've returned, attempting to hide the fact here in the royal palace is most likely useless, so directly handling matters as quickly as possible would be the better strategy in this situation. If we catch them off guard they will not have time to make for their boltholes and ready their defenses. Also, I believe it will draw out the enemy."

 "You're the military genius," Yuka said getting up to leave. "I leave it to you. I'm going back to my rooms and taking a good long nap."

 Gyousou looked at her, taken aback.

 "Are you not coming to court?" he questioned curiously. Yuka looked back at him.

 "No way! You just said you're taking over. As far as I'm concerned that means I'm relieved of duty. I haven't had a single break in decades, so I'm going to take full  advantage of this and play hooky. I think I'll lounge around in bed all day and read manga, Enki just dropped off a new series that I've been dying to get the chance to read. Maybe I'll have the kitchens send up a tray of sweets, I love those little mousse and berry cakes they make with the honey glaze."

 "I am preparing to retake my kingdom, something which you have not gotten to do in all the time you have been supporting crown authority here in Tai, and the first thing you think to do is laze around eating cake?"

 "Can you blame me? I'm exhausted!" Yuka snapped. She pivoted on a heel and pointed her finger right in his face, setting a hand on a hip to give him a good scold. "Its been years dealing with the same grinding problems that just get worse and worse no matter what I do, and there's never any way to truly fix it. Do you have any idea how discouraging it is to know that even if things are stable, no matter how hard I work I'll never bring true prosperity? Things will be good but they'll never be great, and no matter what people will always wish deep in their hearts that it wasn't me standing there. So yes, I'm _going_ to go laze around and eat cake, and if you or anyone else has anything to say about it they'd better prepare themselves first!"

 Gyousou looked at her, amused, slightly pitying and also slightly guilty. However, he could not resist teasing her a little bit because she had such an attitude.

 "Perhaps I should prepare a mild sedative for you instead,” he said dryly. “You look like you could use one."

 Yuka gave him a look that was _all_ attitude, like a cat, and sniffed, before she could make a reply however, they were interrupted by the voice of one of the palace maids calling urgently and sounding slightly panicked.

 "Your Grace! Royal Consort! The diplomatic envoy's from Kei, En, Han, Hou and Ryuu have arrived with their New Years greetings and we are not set up to serve them!"

 Risai, knowing she might be dragooned into it if she didn’t act quickly, hurriedly gathered up her scolls and maps with her orders sketched a quick bow and beat a hasty retreat. Yuk looked next over at the rightful king, who would ordinarily be expected to receive the envoys, but he pointed back to his strategy maps, signaling that he intended to be busy for the next long while. Yuka looked dismayed and then resigned. She sighed a long sigh, slumping forward a bit as if in defeat.

 "Place Ryuu in the tapestry room,” she said resignedly. “And En in the glass room, Kei can go to the aviary and Han can be placed in the clockwork suite and Hou can have the mirror room. Of course have refreshments prepared for them. Tell my room maids to ready the amber ensemble and I will be there shortly."

 Yuka turned and looked over at Gyousou.

 "You're busy with your strategy, so I'll handle this for now," then she grumbled. "I should have _known_ it was too good to be true. Keh!"

 With that she bowed politely and took herself off to deal with the diplomatic envoys.

 "When did we have diplomatic ties with Ryuu and Hou?" Gyousou questioned curiously when he caught up to Risai.

 "The Royal Consort has expanded and diversified our trade markets. We export water-silk to Hou, whose winters are nearly as bad as ours, as well as a slight fur trade and some lumber. Ryuu consumes that strange confection that her grace has developed at an alarming rate, seems it's quite the craze there. They also buy books and sap-glass from us."

 "Books?" Gyousou said, surprised.

 Books were ruinously expensive because each one had to be copied by hand, _exactly_. A good scribe might take a year to copy in perfect penmanship, a single manuscript.

 "Her Grace has sponsored a great library in the trade-city of Sen, and uses some kind of device to make many copies of a book very quickly. It is a state secret how it is done. Other nations loan her their books with the agreement that she will produce copies for them and then we sell the extras for a large sum. She has some king of literacy campaign, among other things. Sen has become quite the culture center."

 "That's... unexpected. Where is Sen?"

 "Do you remember the River Yi?"

 "Next thing to a swamp, runs east-west between the Kairi range and the Sora Range," he replied. "Not really useful for anything but breeding Youma, what about it?"

 "It's a major canal-way now," Risai said. "About thirty years ago when the skyways were finished, she moved the engineers on to draining off the still water, creating more farmland while simultaneously making better flood failsafes. The engineers bottomed out a channel between the ranges to create an artificial riverbed. That became the Sen Canal which flows along the border separating Chou and Ki provinces and out through the harbor at Ran. The idea was to connect the north-south arteries of the skyways in Zui, Ki, Chou and Sui and the far east side of Tai with international trade harbors along the western and southern seaboards. A lot of new towns and trade cities have sprung up along its banks in recent decades."

 "Oh..." Gyousou said. Part of him was a little irked at the reconstruction. He understood that it was all probably a good and necessary change, but he hadn't authorized any of it and it was sort of irritating to have someone step in and just start changing things.

 Gyousou and Risai spent a good deal of the rest of the morning hammering out thier strategies for the upcoming combat. It was agreed that it was past time to put a decisive end to things, and the more quickly they moved, the greater chance they had of catching and keeping the enemy off guard.

 The assemblage of the troops, they decided, would be disguised as concession to the Minister of Spring and his request for an enormous new years parade. Gyousou would have the shuukou of Ba, Bun, Jou and Ie provinces and their entourages arrested and their immortality revoked as soon as he was ready to move. Risai already had her people in place for it. The actual arrest of the governors would take place publicly, in court, as soon as he sat down. There were already recommendations for replacements from both Risai and Yuka. Taiki joined them halfway through, although he didn't say much; just being near his master seemed to content him just fine.

  _:The Taiki I remember was always so painfully self-effacing, as though just him breathing the air was sure to burden someone,:_ Gyousou thought, watching his kirin out of the corner of one eye _. :I wonder how he has handled having to nearly rule outright for the last several decades.:_

 Having a co-rulership (and with a foreign kaikyaku no less) with a kirin essentially on the throne just sounded _weird_ to him. He had dealt with an interregnum for a decade, waiting for the Tai kirin to be found and the flag for Shouzan to be raised, so he knew how difficult it could be to deal with various difficulties. However this political and military mire that the kingdom was in was about ten times worse than anything he had ever had to deal with. In his day, the court was only _partly_ filled with corrupt officials. The Provincial governors at least did their jobs (except for Bun Province). The Ministries kept order in their bailiwicks and did not waste time on... Gyousou glanced down at the current political snarl he was trying to understand so that he could unravel...

 “Why in the world would the Ministry of Fall demand that the ministry of earth hand over the taking of the census for taxation purposes?”Gyousou wondered aloud. “Taxes have nothing to do with the judiciary! And the Ministry of Heaven has nothing to do with the Ministry of Earth's ability to keep records, why in the world are they even trying to interfere?”

 On the surface the strange tangle made absolutely no sense. The six ministries were ordained by heaven with certain and specific duties and only those duties, unless assigned otherwise by the king, and even the king had better clear it with Tentei first. Why they should suddenly take it into their heads to ignore this was, he felt an unnecessary mystery. He turned to his kirin and asked him about the matter.

 Taiki looked at him with wide, liquid-grey eyes and said

 "I don't think it’s really anyone's fault..." he said hesitantly, clearly uncomfortable about naming names and placing blame.

 "The report in my hand would suggest otherwise," Gyousou pressed gently.

 "Yuka and the Daishikou, Soushikou and Choushi don't really get along, I mean, not as well as she gets along with the heads of Heaven and Earth. Part of it is that many of the imperial laws in place make no sense to her, or me for that matter. She keeps trying to repeal the land-tie laws or at least have them lessened. To her, and to both of us, they sound too far akin to slavery or serfdom. Her latest sortie caused a counter-strike by the Minister of Fall. He said that if she disagreed with the law so much, that he should be allowed to handle the land and tax responsibilities since they were so closely tied with the judiciary anyway."

 "Oh," Gyousou said with a head shake.

 "But in truth it wasn't the first time the Daishikou has tried to expand his area of authority. Fifty years ago he tried to take over the military courts. A few years after Risai shot him down on that one he moved on to the Ministry of Spring saying that the laws and rites of heaven should be handled in court the same as the kingdoms laws."

"So you're saying that the Daishikou is making a nuisance of himself?"

 "Not... not exactly," Taiki said hesitantly. "He... he just doesn't like the impropriety of a court run by a Royal Consort and a kirin. He thinks that I... that I am too kind-hearted to lead the land in the state that it is in, and he outright dislikes Yuka for many of the choices she has made."

 "Such as?"

 "He doesn't like many of her cultural campaigns, and the way she has caused a population shift to the south gives him hives. He hates the skyways, though I don't see why since it had cut down on banditry along the roads by thirty percent. He really, _really_ hates her hunter-warrior's guilds for the killing of youma since the sort of men and women who generally sign up for that sort of lifestyle are usually troublemakers who like to thumb their noses at the law in the first place. He's not a big fan of her policy of economic sanctions either since many of the sanctions she and I have put into place have tread on his toes. He likes to use technicalities of the law to get around her whenever he can."

 Gyousou gave what his kirin said and what his kirin did _not_ say about the minister some thought.

 "So, not entirely a _bad_ minister,” he concluded. “But you feel he is a little on the inflexible side."

 "They don't take bribes, but it bothers me a little that Choushi doesn't faithfully report the goings on of the ministers,” Taiki added. “Oddly though, Yuka seems to think that this isn't a bad thing. She said that she'd rather have him in place reporting the major infractions and letting the minor ones slide. She seems to think that court officials will be more likely to trust him if he doesn't go reporting every little thing. That doesn't make sense to me."

 "Allow me to ask you this, in each case where the Daishikou has encroached on another's authority has it had anything to do with movements made by the two of you to steer the laws?"

 "The time when he tried to take over military courts was right after I asked Yuka to send general Asen into exile rather than have him executed," Taiki said with a nod. "We won, but the Ministry of Fall hasn't been an ally of ours ever since that time. I think he doesn't like the way we work. He often accuses Yuka of doing too much, and me of not doing enough."

 Gyousou nodded and set the report aside, then picked up the next. It was going to be a long afternoon.


	12. A Caelo Usque Ad Centrum (from the sky to the center)

Dressed in an ensemble of amber-colored silk embroidered with crysanthemums in scarlet thread and trimmed with brown fur (for the floors were cold even in the royal palace), Yuka mentally reviewed the gifts she had ordered sent to each foreign palace for New Years and partly dreaded what gifts some of them might think to send to her.

 Kei was never a problem, she and Youko exchanged gifts like two friends exchanging presents for christmasu. Ryuu's new king sent gifts sort of by-the-book, Yuka thought that he probably had one of the officials in his Ministry of Heaven pick out something appropriate. Likewise with Hou, though the new queen picked by Houki was a bit eccentric, and sent her some odd presents sometimes. (Yuka's personal theory was that Tentei reacted to its/His prior mistakes by swinging directly in the opposite direction and hoping for the best.) However, En and Han, two nations with old kings that she didn't dare offend, were the ones she was most concerned about.

 "Let's just hope that there are no more kimono's from the Ever-letch!" Yuka muttered to herself.

 Ever-letch was Yuka's personal nickname for the troublesome and slightly letcherous Ever-king of En. En-ou just seemed to delight in dancing along the edge of what could be considered scandalous and offensive behavior.

  _:I mean, he knows I'm technically married for heaven's sake, he was there when the proxy ceremony took place and he still has the very nerve to send suggestive presents to me, is he **trying** to start a diplomatic incident?!:_

 He'd actually been the stand-in at the wedding for the absent and unconscious king of Tai (and he'd used his stand-in status to try to get away with stealing a kiss from her to "seal the deal" which Yuka had rebuffed). Ever since then he'd taken every opportunity to act like a pervy womanizer with her. Yuka wasn't fooled for a second into thinking he actually had feelings for her, Naotaka Komatsu just reveled in being _utterly_ inappropriate. He was _that_ sort of person. And the longer the lecture she wrote him in reply to his shenanigans, the more he seemed to like it. Weirdo. A few years ago he had actually sent her a lovely kimono, complete with _under_ kimono. The note he'd attached said something along the lines of "hoping she enjoyed the nostalgic reminder of their shared homeland" but Yuka had seen right through it to the very grave impropriety of such a gift. In their "shared homeland," a man only dressed a woman from head to toe because he wanted to undress her later! He knew it was inappropriate when he'd sent it to her, which was precisely why he did it.

  _:That ever-letch and his damned sly sense of humor,:_ Yuka thought irritatedly, feeling a headache coming on already.

 Aside of En, there was also Han to worry about. Yuka wasn't quite sure how _that_ had become a worry. For the first decade or so of Yuka and Taiki taking the reigns in Tai, their diplomatic relations with Han had gone as well as they had ever seemed to previously. After a few small initial gifts to break the ice, trade relations between them went swimmingly, even better when Yuka's engineers finished redesigning the ports to run more efficiently and safely. She'd exchanged polite notes with the reportedly somewhat eccentric king, and diplomacy between the two nations went well, though of course they were not on the same intimate level as Kei or even the inappropriate En.

 Then one year, Taiki had seemed to think it a fine idea that Han-ou should have a picture of the two of them since the kirin had visited that court while on his diplomatic mission to Ren the first time Taiki had been in this realm. So the little artist had sketched one of Yuka in one of her finest hanfuu along with one of himself in court zhishen and sent it along with the usual greeting-present. Ever since that time the emperor of Han had sent personal greetings to her, in particular. It seemed that whatever Taiki had painted of her had made an impression on the man. Yuka wasn't so certain she shouldn't be weirded out by it. She was still finding diplomatic excuses to refuse his numerous requests to come and visit her face to face. The impropriety of the man coming to visit while her husband, the king of Tai, was out of commission was holding him off quite well. Still, she was never certain if the presents he sent were going to be acceptable or if she was going to have to find a politely diplomatic way to refuse the gift and then spend weeks smoothing over ruffled feathers.

  _:Well, if the present is inappropriate this time I can at least hand it off to someone else. Let the real king worry about soothing Han-ou’s slighted feelings or taking the Ever-letch to task about his behavior!:_ Yuka thought with a small smile at the thought that it would be only just a little while longer until she could be free of all of this nonsense.

 There was a smaller audience chamber in the southern section of the outer palace that Yuka used to receive foreign envoys, it was a little more intimate without loosing any royal dignity, and it took the servants less time to set up than the grand audience chamber where she and Taiki would have assemble the full court before the empty throne and go through the usual rigamrole with the gong and all of that. This chamber had a smaller floor, only one small step up, barely a dais at all, and a simple, pretty chair instead of an actual throne. Even so, Yuka was seated on a small, scarlet cushion embroidered with golden phoenixes next to the empty chair, signifying her acting as what _she_ would have called a regent (though this world had no real concept for regents in precise terms) for the king.

 The first envoy to walk across the chamber and bow politely to the empty throne and then to her was from Ryuu and they presented a very lovely tea service with the compliments of the ruler of Ryuu and the hope of a felicitous New Year. Yuka thanked them according to ceremony. They drank a cup of tea together and discussed poetry, then the envoy bowed out, duty done. The next envoy was from Hou with a lovely set of fine furs and a beautiful calligraphy set. The gift was accepted and gratitude expressed, tea was drank and on to the next. In addition to the lovely new violin that Youko had sent her in reply to the hand-wound music box that Yuka had ordered made for her, the envoy sent a messenger bird from Youko, probably with a reply from her last "letter." More tea and greetings. Then came En.

 "Ohh..." Yuka said, having to rely on decades of training her facial expressions when presented the present from the Ever-king by the hapless envoy, who was sweating bullets. "How... nice..." she finally managed.

 The gifts were fans, which in and of themselves were quite appropriate. However, these fans were of the calligraphers variety, and the messages that the King of En had chosen to scawl on them in his best penmanship were pick up lines. Bad ones.

 "Send a call up to Mt. Ka, because they've lost one of their Tenyo?" Yuka read aloud. She picked up another one and opened it. "You must be exhausted from running through my mind all night?" And a third. "Do you believe in love at first sight or should I come visit again?" They got steadily worse from there. The poor sucker that the Ever-king had dragooned into service had this despairing panicked look, like he could literally see his career or his life ending right before him.

 "I would normally thank you on my husband’s behalf," she said as she gestured that the poor man be seated to share tea. "But I honestly cannot say what he might think about them."

 The envoy swallowed nervously, clearly having heard of the emperor of Tai’s martial prowess and clearly took comfort in the fact that it was a known fact among royals that the Peace-king could not take offense for someone coming on to his wife because he was out of commission.

 "Please convey to your king Tai's greetings and well-wishes," Yuka said, calmly. "And also that the kimono he sent the other year was quite the wrong size for his majesty."

 All of this was said with a perfectly straight face and a calm sip of tea. The envoy tried unsuccessfully to disguise his relief.

  _:I wonder what this poor fellow has done to irk that man. Maybe he has a daughter and Shouryuu is trying to get at her. I wouldn't put it past the old letch!:_

 The king of Han's gift was not so outrageous, but was still slightly inappropriate in its own way. Hair combs. Beautiful hair combs of carved jade and pearls with a bevy of hair pins (the kind that were decorative and not useful in combat). It was a gift that was clearly aimed at Yuka personally and thus it strayed dangerously close to courtship territory. Yuka wasn't sure if it was true in this world, but in the world she had come from, historically haircombs could be given as a gift to signify intent to marry. To refuse the present outright would cause offense, but Yuka did not accept it right away either, instead she asked the very beautiful lady that Han-ou had sent as an envoy to sit down and have tea and listened with half an ear to the poetry while she ruminated on what to do with the situation. The poor lady had clearly been left with orders to recite love poetry to Yuka, and seemed to be taking up her duty with an enthusiasm that made Yuka think that perhaps everyone in the kingdom of Han was as eccentric as their king was rumored to be.

_:I may have to start being more firm with the Emperor of Han, otherwise he'll become just as wildly inappropriate, in a different way, as the Emperor of En. I can't allow the shuukou to even hint that there might be anything untoward in our diplomatic relations or it will open up whole new troubles...:_

 Her thoughts trailed off for a moment, caught on a snag.

  _:Ah! that's right, I'm not going to have to worry about this for much longer. King Gyousou will be back on his throne in a day or two, and he can deal with this stuff however he wants to. I doubt he'll be much interested in any of the courts insinuations one way or the other since he's an **actual** anointed king rather than a mere Consort and he can rule outright.:_

 After a long pause, Yuka eventually accepted the greetings of the king of Han but requested the emissary wait for her to write a scroll in reply. The naughty thought that she ought to have the _real_ king write back to Han-ou in his masculine handwriting thanking him for the haircombs made her smile a little. She'd have to figure out a reply that was cautiously grateful but at the same time slightly chiding about the present he'd sent her.

 The early afternoon string of diplomatic receptions was over with and Yuka arranged a dinner in the west dining room for the envoys, with herself and Taiki if it could be managed. As the palace staff was handling that matter, Yuka requested to meet with Risai to go over the plans for security during the minor affair. It was little more than dinner, but it was important that nothing happen to her important guests, it would reflect badly if the diplomatic envoys were killed inside Whitejewel Palace, and the last thing she needed at the end of her tenure was the kind of diplomatic mess that something like that would bring.

  _:What to wear?:_ she wondered to herself.

 Though Yuka was the Royal Consort, she didn't actually have much in the way of nice clothes. Certainly she did not have the entire closets full of silk robes and jewels she had heard of in other kingdoms like Kyou. Tai was still very poor ( _despite_ her work on stabilizing the economy!) and she always felt guilty spending money on clothing when there were people who were worried about boots for the winter. She had a very modest clothing budget, and (under the table of course) Youko helped her out by giving her a discount on cotton cloth from her kingdom.

: _Not the yellow, that makes me look sallow.:_ she decided.

 The color was supposed to be lucky but it looked terrible on Yuka's winter complexion. She couldn't wear black because that was reserved for the emperor and court officials. Yuka looked her clothing rack up and down, as a maid pulled out for her to view the different ensembles she owned.

  _:It's New Years, so something festive perhaps. I just wore the emerald green one the other day, the purple is being washed, that mauve is not season-appropriate nor is the teal. The cut of the that one is not appropriate for the occasion.:_

 "Milady, if I may," the servant said with a bow.

 She pulled out a beautiful deep blue and white hanfu with an indigo overskirt and cranes embroidered in silver. It was also _real_ silk and satin, instead of the fine cotton-silk Yuka usually wore. It was very beautiful, and clearly special even for a court occasion with the Royal Consort. The last time Yuka had worn it had been during a State Visit from the Queen of Hou.

 "It's beautiful," she acknowledged to her servant. "But not quite appropriate for the occasion, just a _little_ too fancy. We don't want me to look like I'm trying too hard. No, the apricot silk, I think, will be just fine, with the matching peach colored jade hair ornaments."

"Yes, milady," the girl said, clearly disappointed.

The ensemble she'd chosen was completely appropriate but a little boring. It had only a little trim and was brocaded in white rather than embroidered. It was lovely in its own way, but a little on the prim and stuffy side. It was one of those ensembles she wore when Yuka wanted to play up that, despite her young appearance she was, in fact, a married woman. Yuka attended to paperwork in her office until it was an hour before the early dinner reception. Then her maids made up her face and helped her dress in the clothes she'd picked out, put up her hair. Her one concession to vanity was a particularly lovely set of hair pins with peach-jade beads that hung down and clicked softly together next to her face. Her battlemaids fell into step around her, dressed as ever in their courtly attire.

Yuka both liked and disliked these "social" occasions. On the one hand, it was the closest she got to a real party, one where half of the people on the guest list weren't secretly wishing she'd choke on a fishbone. On the other hand, she was the Royal Consort and had unfortunately gained a reputation for wit, so at all times she had to be both graceful, without relying too much on her beauty or flaunting it, and witty without making it seem like she was being forward. In the give and take of conversation, even between sycophants, Yuka still had certain lines to walk.

In the apartment next to hers, Taiki dressed in his charcoal-black imperial robe, the ceremonial one he wore on special occasions when he was acting as Taiho. She thought he always looked so cute in his imperial robes with his long hair left loose to flow down his back. He had one clip with a black-gem butterfly sparkling above his right ear and a pin with a rose of light purple jade and a tassle to match dangling from above the row of frog-and-toggle fastenings that held his black zhishen closed. His folded-over cuffs were of grey brocade silk to match his eyes.

"You're wearing that to dinner?" he asked, dubiously as he spied the ensemble she'd chosen to wear. "I mean, there's nothing _wrong_ with it, it's just a bit..."

"Dowdy, I know," Yuka agreed with him, showing him a one of her rare, genuine smiles. That one came with dimples, and they didn't show up often. "But it seems that Han-ou is at it again, and the Ever-letch is worse than ever!"

"Don't tell me he sent you a yukata this time," Taiki said, his voice clearly conveying his dread that the man might have actually tried it.

"Nothing like _that_ , thank Tentei, and his gift would have made me laugh, if I hadn't been so dismayed. He is utterly terrible, it's no wonder the man doesn't have a wife if he has to rely on his wit to capture a woman's attention. I mean _really_. "If I said you had a gorgeous body would you hold it against me?" That’s sexual harassment!"

"What really concerns me is the fact that you always accept them on Gyousou-sama's behalf..." Taiki said, with rare amusement.

"What is accepted on my behalf?" the man himself inquired curiously, clearly having just walked out to stretch from being cooped up in the office all day for he still had a small stack of forms in one hand.

"You've received a set of hair combs from Han-ou," Yuka said with a teasing smile, her earlier good humor making the dimples more pronounced. "Shall we put them on you? I'm sure they'll look lovely."

"Why am I receiving hair combs from the King of Han?" he inquired with a raised brow.

Apparently the gift of hair combs had a similar meaning in this world to what they had once had in her homeland.

"I drew him a picture of Yuka and I a few years ago and he's been sending weird presents ever since," Taiki replied with a wincing smile.

"You should be glad it was just hair combs this year and not that one diplomatic hairball six years ago," Yuka closed her eyes in pained remembrance of the headache.

"Oh?" Gyousou asked, clearly curious.

"Han-ou returned Taiki's favor of a picture, with a life sized portrait of himself. Fortunately for everyone concerned it was not au naturale."

 "Yeah, he was only _half_ naked!" Taiki teased her.

Gyousou's reaction was somewhere between a surprised gape, and a sudden laugh.

"It's not funny!" Yuka protested hotly, scolding the both of them for their levity at her expense. " _You_ try finding a diplomatic way to scold a foreign king about his inappropriate gift while keeping in mind that he's one of your single biggest and most lucrative trading contributors!"

"I can see where you might have some difficulties," Gyousou said, still chuckling.

"Perhaps I should pass on the King of En's well wishes to you too, your majesty," Yuka said with sharp politeness. "I do not have any of his fans on me at present, but he did say--"

"Now now, Yuka, you know that Shouryuu was just trying to stir things up," Taiki said hastily. "I don't think Gyousou-sama should be sexually harassed by a foreign power."

"Implying that it's just fine for _me_..." Yuka grumbled. The she smiled her sharp smile again. "I think I will have knives engraved with my replies to his little witticisms."

"And this is why he keeps at it," Taiki replied. "Enki says your responses make him laugh for days every time he sends you something."

“On second thought, it would be a waste of perfectly good steel,” Yuka replied, nodding sagely. “It won’t be my lookout anymore anyway, I’ll just leave it for your king to deal with.”

The amused little smile she sent in the direction of said king spoke louder than words to the fact that she was rather enjoying the thought of his future discomfort in having to deal with the Ever-king and his notorious sense of humor.

“If some inappropriate fans and a few hair combs are all I have to deal with in the next few days I shall count myself most fortunate,” Gyousou replied with his usual seriousness, but then a certain glint of amusement entered his eyes as he added.

“However, it would be a shame to waste such a wit as Tai’s Royal Consort is rumored to be when it could be put to a most productive use for crown and country. I believe that there are diplomatic positions in both kingdoms that currently stand open. I sounds to me as though Han-ou would be particularly appreciative of closer diplomatic relations with Tai.”

“It’s not the _diplomatic_ relations he wishes to deepen,” Yuka muttered darkly with a frown in his direction.

“Be at peace,” Tai-ou soothed her. “Even though the king of Han is rumored to be an eccentric sort of man, I very much doubt he would jeopardize the good relations these kingdoms share by pursuing the matter.”

“You’re right of course,” Yika relented with good grace. “Eccentric he may be, but Han-ou is reportedly a good king, he would not risk upsetting foreign affairs with Tai by taking any truly objectionable actions.”

“It is a pity you will not join us for dinner Gyousou-sama,” Taiki said wistfully. “It would be wonderful to have you at the table with us.”

“Patience,” Gyousou replied gently, holding up the sheaf of notes he was currently studying. “I will be at the helm of state soon enough, my kirin.”

“And when he is, I can cut and run!” Yuka said cheerfully.

She turned to Gyousou.

“Study hard tonight while we’re at dinner, then you can rescue me from all this work that much sooner.”

“What work?” Taiki demanded. “This is the most fun you get all year!”

“Yes, but even this fun is work,” Yuka replied. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be sparkling and witty and charming non-stop for hours?”

“And you do it all stuffed into a hanfu that looks like something my granny would have worn to terrify my little brother’s marriage prospect with her intimidating demeanor,” Taiki teased.

“I say again” Yuka said firmly. “ _That_ is the point of the ensemble. I don’t want any shuukou or those foreign dignitaries getting any funny ideas about me just because I’m all smiles and wit to them for an evening.”

“I’ll bet Han-ou would like to give you something to smile over,” Taiki said with a rare form of teasing for him as they  walked on together to attend the State Dinner.

 

* * *

 

Gyousou watched the two partners wander off to their State Dinner with a feeling of wistful envy. It wasn’t that he wanted to attend the dinner with them, but the sense of the long-standing, easy camaraderie between them left him feeling a little left out. He had always intended that _he_ should be the one at his kirin’s side, running the kingdom and bringing prosperity to Tai, it made him feel sad that things had turned out so differently.

_:I suppose I must content myself with going from here_ ,: he reminded himself.

It would not be long before Taiki turned his attention back to his rightful king, after all it was they who were destined to be partners. The young-looking Royal Consort was a matter to be settled with at another day.

_:Though truthfully, she is beginning to grow on me just a little bit_ ,: he admitted to himself.

She was sensible, and frugal (which he highly approved of) and she cared deeply about Taiki and had made every attempt to understand her adopted land and its people. What he had read of the notes she’d made for him were full of observations and astute coments about the way people acted or how they lived with their environment and situations in life. If he had to be saddled with an unexpected bride, he could think of a number of examples of women that he would have disliked to have around him.

: _Such as **any** of the previous kings concubines_ ,: Gyousou thought with a grimace of remembered distaste.

To a woman, _all_ of them had been frivolous, obsessed with clothing and jewelry, and forever involved with petty power games to increase their status as ornaments to the crown. Not a one of them concerned themselves with where the money for their ridiculously elaborate silk and satin and clothing jeweled accessories had come from (or which hard-working farmer or fisher might be doing without so that they could wear it). They had all been able to read and recite poetry and play instruments but not a single one of them would ever have concerned themselves with matters of finance… to them, budgets had been things that happened to _other_ people.

_:There are certainly worse options than Lady Yuka to have propping up the throne,:_ he thought with amusement.

“A copper kan for your thoughts, my king?” General Risai Ryuushi said, as she stepped from around the corner with a rolled up scroll (which he discovered after she handed it to him and he glanced over it contained the security protocols she had put into place for the dinner that night).

“My Kouri seems all grown up, dining on his own with the Royal Consort,” he said instead, letting a small trace of melancholy slip into his voice.

 “This is the happiest we’ve seen him in decades,” Risai replied with a small smile. “Like the rest of us, he waits eagerly for you to take your place on the throne soon.”

“Do you think the Royal Consort is as eager as she makes herself out to be?” he asked next.

It was one thing to hear her joke about being freed from the burdens of rule, but there were many, many people who had sacrificed and killed and died in pursuit of a power that was not theirs to claim. Asen himself had pretended to be pleased for Gyousou on his ascension even while he had plotted behind his back to bring him down. It was possible that Lady Yuka might have grown comfortable in her position of power and influence in Court and might not be as pleased as she claimed to be to give it up. He felt a small stab of concern when his trusted General Risai hesitated.

“Perhaps it is not my place to say…” she began. “While among a certain circle it is not _great_ secret, and I happened to have overheard the entire matter but it was _not_ told to me _directly_ you understand… it is a matter that is intensely private, but at the same time it is pertinent to the question, and a matter of concern to me as well.”

Gyousou raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“It is very unusual for you to be so circumspect General,” he prompted.

He couldn’t really come right out and say ‘put with it’ for the decision to speak on what she felt was a matter of discretion was hers to make, but he did feel a small pang of impatience.

“Lady Yuka, as you have heard and can see for yourself, was a school-aged child on her world when she crossed over to help her school-mate, whom she had known as Kaname Takasoto. You may have also heard that she and Youko Nakajima, who is called Sekishi the Regnant Queen of Kei, have a long history together. However, what you may not know is that part of that history involved Kei-ou’s ascension to the throne.”

Intrigued, in spite of the fact that what he was hearing was clearly private information (and private information that was acquired without the subjects consent at that). Gyousou leaned in to listen.

“Kei-ou was a Taika like Taiki and the pair from En,” Risai explained. “Keiki, as the story was related to me, appeared before her one day and got her to accept his oath of loyalty without her ever knowing what it was at the time she accepted it. Lady Yuka was her school mate at this time and was swept along with her when the former Kou-ou released the shirei of his Kourin upon them into this world. I am not aware of the particulars, but somehow Lady Yuka wound up on the opposite side of Kei-ou. She worked for Kou-ou, who ordered her to destroy her friend before she could ascend to the throne of Kei. It is a fact that Lady Yuka took up the sword against her friend because Kou-ou told her that if she slayed Kei-ou, Yuka would ascend the throne instead.”

There was a long appalled moment where Gyousou was too surprised to speak. It took a moment for his brain to process the statement but immediately afterwards, all of the various incongruities took precedence in his mind, starting with

“But that’s not how it works.”

He should know, Asen had tried very nearly the same thing with him to have Tai’s throne as his own.

“The world they come from is very very different, Your Majesty,” Risai replied. “I am given to understand that in the long history of their world, such a way of coming into power may actually be the norm for them. It stands to reason that, given this, it would be not unexpected that Yuka would accept the information as a matter of course.”

“She saw no problem with… with murdering a rival to power?” Gyousou said, surprised.

“In her defense,” Risai said in an even tone. “Lady Yuka was very young, and as a kaikyaku she did not even have the ability that a taika would of understanding the language spoken to her by any but a sage, thus, she would have had no way of sorting out truth from lies. The former Kou-ou was clever enough to keep her isolated from anyone who might tell her differently, so that she would have been forced to accept whatever he told her at face value.”

“It seems a great deal to take on faith,” Gyousou said. “Did you not say they were friends? She saw no trouble with taking arms against her friend?”

“From what I gather,” Risai replied. “They were associates but not close until after their altercation. I believe they were also rivals over a fellow schoolmate’s affection though I do not know that last for certain.”

“Was it Kouri?” Gyousou asked curiously and looking almost amused as she’d ever seen him. “I know that he come from their world as well.”

Risai too though the notion to be a vaguely amusing one, but more along the lines of ‘it would have been hilarious if it had happened that way’ but had to reply in the negative.

“No, it was someone else they both knew. Seikishi did not come to know our kirin until after she had brought him back to this world. The details are still a bit fuzzy but I am under the impression that Lady Yuka returned to hourai after the altercation between herself and the Royal Kei then came back here to help Kouri and subsequently became Royal Consort in the process.”

“Everything she has said to me indicates that he is eager to be quit of her post,” Gyousou said. “You have known her for a long time, do you think she is as eager to be gone as she claims, General?”

“Even after so long an association with her, I… I often have a hard time reading her well Your Majesty,” Risai said honestly. “Her alien background often makes her react to things she learns or discovers of this world in unpredictable ways. That, combined with the inscrutable face that she’s developed over decades of political maneuvering, has made it very difficult for me to know what she’s thinking or feeling on anything at any given time. Part of me wants to excuse it as youthful naiveté, but on the other hand I cannot quite bring myself to discount the fact that she was ruthless and ambitious enough to raise a sword against her own schoolmate.”

The was a long silence while Gyousou ruminated on what she had said. Finally, he pronounced

“I do not believe that it will be a matter to be overly concerned with right now. First things first is restoring the throne and cleaning house. The Royal Consort and any ambitions she may or may not have will simply have to wait.”

“Don’t you think you’re taking this too lightly your majesty? Lady Yuka’s hold over the court is a strong one, if she chose to manipulate a way to retaining her power there is a chance she could do it. There is a precedent in her past behavior for ruthless pursuit of a throne.”

“To be honest, there is a precedent in my own past for the same thing, otherwise I would not have organized the court to my liking and then went on Shouzan,” he said with a slightly rueful shrug.

“You would not have betrayed a comrade for it sir,” Risai rebutted immediately.

Gyousou looked her over with a weighty look, measuring all she had said, and what she did not say. Finally he said

“You do not favor the Royal Consort, do you General?”

There was another long silence as Risai gave his question real consideration. At last she said

“I am not _sure_ of her, even after all of this time. I have worked alongside her, and along side her battlemaids, for decades; I have seen how she works, and though she works hard, there is something in the way of her mind that never quite ceases to make me worry. She’s… she’s _cunning_ sir; crafty, devious. She has spies _everywhere_. Did you know she makes a regular habit of blackmailing officials who can’t be bribed into doing what she wants?! Granted, they’re all corrupt and sort of have it coming anyway, but— She’s disconcertingly good at manipulating people to do what needs doing.”

“So in other words, an able politician and not a warrior,” he said with some wry humor.

“She’s been on the battlefield a time or two,” Risai corrected. “And I can’t fault her behavior on or off it, but I couldn’t fault Asen’s either before he betrayed us all. I want to like the Royal Consort, and after all this time she has to have more than earned my trust, but I just can’t seem to shake my worry that things are going to end badly with her.”

“There is one question that no-one has ever answered or even, it seems, thought to ask,” Gyousou said, a little hesitantly.

“What is that, sir?”

“Why choose her?” he asked. “It seems strange to me. Even if they were desperate, there had to have been options other than a half-trained kaikyaku-child who probably couldn’t read or speak the language on her own. You, for example would have been a more sensible choice; you’re older, more experienced in the world, a native and—“

But Risai seemed to be smothering her laughter for some reason.

“Sir!” she said, nearly giggling into her hand, cheeks turning pink for suppressed mirth. “Your Majesty, while it honors me greatly that you would see me as a more compatible choice for your illustrious self as a Royal Consort… I am afraid that everyone with any input into the matter already knew that I am not a viable option.”

“Oh?” Gyousou said, taken aback. This was news to him. “How is that?”

“I am already life-bonded, Your Majesty,” General Risai informed him. “And I am quite content with she who awaits me at home.”

“Ohh,” Gyousou said, comprehension dawning.

It was not at all uncommon in the military. In fact, it almost seemed more like the norm than the exception to have such life pairings among the soldiery. Tentei blessed such pairings equally when it came time to tie a branch on a ribouku so there was nothing terribly unusual about it to his eyes (though he had heard that down in Kou the former king had forbidden such marriages by law, but they had a lot of stupid laws in Kou, like Hanjuu not owning land or attending school).

 

**_ Authors Note: Yes, Kou is the  _ ** **_ Alabama _ ** **_ of the Twelve Kingdoms (no offense to anyone who lives in  _ ** **_ Alabama _ ** **_ ). _ **

 

“So you see, I was sadly not an option, for much as I love Tai and Taiki, I could not bring myself to set aside the woman I love in order to give the pretense the full commitment it would have required. Furthermore, I know myself well, Your Majesty,” she said. “I am effective enough on a battlefield, but dealing with the politics of the court is another matter entirely. I would have suited that aspect of rule not as well as what would be needed.”

Risai frowned, then slowly added

“Now that I think on it, when myself and the other rulers met to discuss candidates for the post, Lady Yuka’s name came up for precisely those reasons.”

Gyousou looked curious.

“Explain,” he commanded politely.

“Lady Yuka had been a pawn to a man of great power who had known how to manipulate her, she had been exposed to her own ruthless side as well as the former Royal Kou’s ruthless manipulations. She would know better than anyone when someone is making moves on their own agenda, and when someone is trying to maneuver her for their own ends. Her Majesty, the Royal Kei, felt that the knowledge of herself and of the sort of ruthless manipulations that Lady Yuka had already been exposed to at that point would do more than anything to prepare her for the power games of the Royal Court. The Royal Kei said then that self-knowledge in one who would rule was more important than anything except knowledge of others, and she added that even knowledge of others begins with being able to see past oneself.”

“A wise woman, the Royal Kei,” Gyousou nodded.

“Given that Lady Yuka’s half-a-reign has lasted longer than the last three anointed kings of the kingdom of Shun put together, I suppose I will have to agree with the recommendation.”

Her tone said that she did not have to _like_ it.

“Why the sudden curiosity, Your Majesty?” Risia asked curiously. “Do you feel her to pose a threat?”

“No,” Gyousou replied bluntly. “But I have been considering a number of strategies for my upcoming re-conquering of Tai’s northern provinces, and the one I have that I feel would be best would rely on keeping the Royal Consort into place for some small time yet. I needed to know whether she might make a play of her own and whether I might have to find some way to deal with her or not.”

 “You want to keep her in place?” Risai said, not sounding like she liked the notion.

 “For a small time,” Gyousou allowed. “As I said, it’s only one strategy I am considering, but looking at it from many angles it seems to be the best so far. After all, if Ansen must be given his choice of targets, I would prefer to present him with one that will at least be ale to fight back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally half as long but I wanted Gyousou in it. Who doesn't want Gyousou in it?


	13. obliti privatorum, publica curate (Forget private affairs, take care of public ones)

Gyousou felt a bit miffed that the Royal Consort had stolen Taiki for the evening. He knew he had no cause for such a feeling, he was the one who had decided that they should keep his awakening a secret until the time that he was ready to act , in order for those he wished to act against to not have time to escape him. But still, he missed his kirin. In order that he should miss Taiki less, and hopefully be back on his throne that much sooner, Gyousou steadily worked his way through reports and counter-reports, gaining a better picture of the state of affairs as they were to that day. It was late in the evening when he paused again, stepping out onto the walkway that led to the emperors garden for some fresh night air when Kouri came hurriedly before him, still dressed in his ceremonial court zhishen.

 “Ah! Thaere you are Kou—“

 The king immediately turned to smile at his kirin but the smile faded at the agitation on Taiki's face.

 "What is the matter Kouri?" he inquired, concerned.

 "Gyousou-sama, I'm not sure what to do, and for once neither is Yuka!" Taiki said. "And she almost always thinks of something."

 "What happened?" he asked, his concern growing into alarm at the state his kirin was in, nervously pacing in front of him.

 "We went down to the dinner we set up for the foreign envoys and everything was going as well as they usually do. They were all nice to me and Yuka was shmoozing, everyone was laughing and having a good time... when all of a sudden the envoy from Han stands up and throws off her over-robe to reveal that under it he's wearing imperial robes with the seal of Han on them."

 Gyousou's jaw nearly dropped as he quickly put together the implications of what Taiki had just said.

 "The Royal Han has showed up in a completely unannounced State Visit, disguised as an ordinary envoy?" he said.

 "Not only that, but right in front of everybody, he gave Yuka a golden lily!"

 A golden lily was a royal request for marriage.

 The Royal Tai stared at his kirin for a long moment, completely surprised. He had heard from En-ou that the emperor of Han was an eccentric fellow, but this went waaay beyond eccentricity. The king of Han had come to a foreign nation unannounced and essentially uninvited, (though Han and Tai shared a close trade-relationship) while the King of Tai was known to be unable to receive him, for the express purpose of propositioning said king's lawful wife! It was a diplomatic nightmare no matter which way one looked at it. At best it could be interpreted as an inappropriate gesture of goodwill, but more likely people were going to call it like they saw it; the man had insulted the Royal Tai (and by extension his kingdom) by walking into the Royal Palace, behind the kings back, and attempting to abscond with his wife. If Heaven's Law did not forbid one kingdoms army from invading another, the insult would have been an act of war!

  _:Damage control,:_ he thought quickly.

 "Did she accept?" he inquired urgently.

 "Of course not,” Taiki said with a note of scorn at the very idea in his voice. “Yuka wouldn't leave me or Tai, and certainly not like this! Even with you on the throne this would be a major debacle. No, she faked a faint and her maids carried her away before Han-ou could offer to examine her or something."

 They were about to continue to discuss the situation when the king and his kirin were distracted by the sound of a guitern being strummed nearby. A masculine voice sang out into the night-still gardens, coming from the direction of Meiden Palace where the kirin and the Royal Consort resided.

  ** _"Most beautiful lady of the frozen snows, your eyes are like crystals, your lips like a roooooose. Your hair is as dark as the clearest night skies, come let me near to drown in your eyyyyyyes."_**

 "You gotta be kidding me," Taiki said in dismay.

 "I hope so, his singing is terrible," was all Gyousou could manage.

  _:If she were actually my real wife, like Isana was, I would have him at sword point right now,:_ Gyousou thought with wry amusement, as the foreign king went on to describe her raven hair and her willowy form in loving, off-key verse.

  _:I think this must be worth putting off paperwork for a little while!:_ Gyousou thought as he snuck round the side of his garden Gyousou hopped over the short wall that separated the gardens of Seiden Palace (where the Royal Quarters were) and into Meiden Palace through the back way, where he was intercepted by one of Yuka's female bodyguards. The guard, recognizing him, bowed and let him pass through.

 Finally, apparently unable to take anymore, a small bevy of Yuka's room maids came out, bowed down low to the visiting king and informed him quite firmly that Meiden Palace was off limits to men, and that he was to vacate the premises immediately unless invited in by Her Grace. It was a rule of the Imperial Palace.

 “Really?” Gyousou questioned softly of his kirin, who had shadowed his footsteps with the ease of long practice. Kouri nodded, confirming it.

 “Meiden Palace is my jurisdiction as given over to me before you left,” he said. “As such I was able to make that decree banning all men from Meiden Palace. It was the best way to keep Yuka safer from accusations of infidelity. Many regard her battlemaids as those who keep men away from Yuka than bodyguards hired to protect her. It’s kinda funny that way.”

 There had been some reconstruction on Meiden Palace since he had ordered it remade for his kirin to live in nearby. It was more defensible now, with guards-walks along the upper floor on the outside all around it, and archers nests at convenient vantage points. The military man in him appreciated the defenses even as he felt in his heart that they should be unnecessary in the Imperial Palace. The interior as well had been remodeled as well; divided into two distinct living quarters, more like two houses sandwiched together, with the Royal Consorts quarters in the more vulnerable position at the outside where attackers might enter. The image of a loyal guardian sleeping across a threshold came to mind.

 When he arrived in what looked to be her office, the only condition that Yuka looked to be in was purely and simply fit to be tied.

 "That idiot! Has he lost his mind! Is he trying to make my life difficult?" He could hear her cursing the poor king of Han. When he entered the room he caught her in mid-pace and when she looked up at him her eyes snapped dark fire and there was an angry scowl was out on her face.

 "So I hope you plan to let him down gently," Gyousou said in amusement, leaning against the doorframe. Yes, the situation was a diplomatic nightmare, but Yuka looked as mad as a wet hen which leant a certain amount of humor to the situation. Or rather, there was something about her that prompted him to tease her about it.

 "The only thing I plan to let down right now is this vase on the top of his head!" Yuka snapped.

 "Don't make an already difficult mess even worse than it is by adding bodily harm into the mix," Gyousou cautioned her.

 "Can I at least pour the water on him?"

 He laughed a little and shook his head.

 "Oh sure, _you_ can laugh," Yuka muttered. "You're not stuck inadvertently neck-deep in trouble."

 "In this case, I'm right here with you," Gyousou corrected. "Han-ou's actions affect me as much as they do you, perhaps more for I will be the one expected to respond to them. After all, the man is trying to steal my lawful wife."

 "You think we could pass it all off as a joke?" Yuka suggested hopefully. "One harmless prank between one ruler to another."

 "Do you know of anyone stupid enough to believe such a contention?" Gyousou replied.

 "Well we'd better think of something quick, before everyone somehow blames _me_ for this whole mess. That's the way it always goes after all; a popular guy likes a girl, and whether she's interested or not, it's all her fault if he pursues her."

 Yuka's voice contained an edge of bitterness that sounded like the ring of experience.

 "Maybe you could have him come in and sit down to explain why this is all a bad idea," Taiki suggested hopefully.

 "Sweetie. That would be a great idea, except for the part where a strange man is allowed to enter the Royal Consorts chambers alone and unattended. Somehow I don't think that one will pass without comment. Especially in the imperial court. Half of those guys have been trying for years to bust me on an indiscretion charge. They're going to have a field day with this unless we spin it right."

 "He's starting on another verse," Taiki warned.

 "I think he wrote it himself," Gyousou commented.

 "He just compared my skin to the moon, I think you're right," Yuka said. "There's got to be a way out of this mess!"

 "I don't think this is something that can be swept under the rug," Gyousou said reluctantly.

 "There's a way to handle any situation," Yuka replied absently as she resumed her pacing, clearly thinking at a furious rate.

 "You have had to handle enough over the time I've been gone," Gyousou said chivalrously as he rose to walk out onto the balcony to discuss the matter with the King of Han. "I will handle this matter."

 "You mustn't!" Yuka protested, grabbing his sleeve. "If you walk out there, then this automatically goes from a less than ideal situation into a full-blown _fiasco_. If you confront him directly, then the King of Han has officially attacked the pride of the King of Tai."

 Gyousou found himself suddenly feeling irritated.

  _:I know that she's grown accustomed to handling everything on her own, or with Kouri, and I know that I just woke up a day or two ago and she's trying to be considerate of the larger picture by keeping my presence top secret... but still, it's irritating that she doesn't even think to ask me for help!:_

 Realistically there was no reason why she would, and every reason why she would try to keep this from becoming a major diplomatic incident by keeping a king's pride from being attacked, but it was still irritating. His pride as a man was certainly taking a beating.

 "Whether it is official or not, he has attacked my pride," Gyousou replied. "The only difference is that he planned to get away with all of this while there was nothing I personally would be able to do about it."

 "If you reveal yourself now, then your enemies will know you are awake and they'll get away before you are ready to move on them," Yuka insisted. "They'll all bolt back to thier holes and raise thier defenses and your plan to spring a trap on them will be blown. In my mind, keeping the element of surprise is worth more than popping this idiot's romance-bubble."

 "Have you another suggestion?" he replied, hiding his rising irritation behind a steely look.

 "I have one or two thoughts but none of them seem very good. I could go along with it, pretend to be flattered but shy, and stall him that way. Sadly that would only encourage him, make you look bad and get me kicked out of th court on an indescretion charge."

 "Why not just tell him where to stuff his mandolin?" taiki asked. "You've never had any problems driving off unwanted attention before, sometimes with a baseball bat."

 "The unwanted attentions have never come from foreign heads of state before," Yuka replied dryly.

 "What about that one kimono that Shouryuu sent you?" Taiki argued. "It doesn't get much more inappropriate than that, even if he did send it under the claim of nostalgia for the costume of our people."

 Yuka paused and brightened.

 "A-ha! Taiki you're a genius! You've just solved the problem!"

 "What?" taiki asked. Yuka was already turning to one of her maids.

 "Lin!" she commanded. "Go get the kimono, that present from the King of En. Shae! Tell the Royal Han that his song has won my heart over completely and that I will eagerly await him in the blue gazebo, the one off the lotus pond."

 "What are you planning?" Gyousou asked, trying not to look alarmed.

 "Out you," she shoved him out of her chambers. "I need to change clothes!"

 The king found himself abruptly on the other side of the door and it all but shut in his face. He and Taiki looked at each other, both of them clearly mystified. There was rustling and soft thumps and the soft twitterings of a bevy of exited maids but a few minutes later Yuka emerged from her chambers, transformed.

 "What is that?" he inquired of the unusual looking costume she wore.

 It wasn't entirely _un_ like the hanfu he was accustomed to seeing, but there were numerous differences; the belt was wider and tied very, very strangely around the back, the robe was all one piece instead of composed of a top and bottom, the sleeves were so long they almost touched the floor and were embroidered with a pattern of flower petals, and the bottom was one long tube-like piece that fell to her ankles and clearly restricted movement. Her long hair was loose and flowing, her face was painted entirely white with deep red lipstick, making her dark eyes seem wider and larger. Earrings glittered next to her neck making it seem like stars winked out from her hair. She looked so foreign. Exotic.

 "Oh! Yuka, what a lovely kimono! You look so pretty in it," Taiki said.

 Yuka smiled a glowing genuine smile, complete with dimples. 

"Why thank-you Kaname," her look turned sharp and cunning. "Let's just hope it serves its purpose well."

 With that, she glided off with careful steps measured so that she would not accidentally trip in her strange costume. Gyousou turned to his kirin.

 "Do you have any idea how she intends to solve this?"

 "No idea, but I think the kimono probaly has something to do with it. What that is, I can't imagine."

 "Well," The king was forced to reluctantly decide. "I suppose we shall have to leave her to it, and hope it works out the way she clearly plans it to."

 "Yuka's pretty good with getting the results she wants most times, I guess we'll have to wait and see."

 Seeing as they were leaving it up to her, Gyousou went back to his own task, catching up on decades worth of reports and trying to get a complete handle on the situation before he waded in and tried to fix things. He conscientiously did not allow himself to be distracted by thoughts on how the girl might be handling the debacle. What did she think a costume change was going to do? She couldn't honestly think that stalling him was going to help any, if she didn’t refuse him things would only get worse for everyone. He didn't want to loose his trade contacts with Han just because of something stupid like this.

 It seemed like forever but was only maybe an hour later when the sound of ladies laughter entering the garden announced the return of the girl and her entourage of handmaidens. The easy way they moved, and the fact that they were all smiling was a promising sign. Yuka paused at the edge of the garden and Taiki and Gyousou both stepped out, drawn by curiosity.

 "What news?" he asked.

 "Taken care of," Yuka said smugly, looking proud of herself.

 "Well?" Taiki asked eagerly. "What happened?"

 "Han is on the very western edge of this world, and thus they are the farthest from the east, which is where all the meishoku happen. I remembered that, to Han, kaikyaku are considered bad luck, real harbingers of doom and destruction just as they are in Kou. I suppose it's because they don't get many of them as on the east of this world so they only have rumors to go on. Anyway, that Han-ou fell in love with a picture of me. That's not real love, it’s being in love with love. I figured that such a weak attachment would be easy to break if he was the one who broke it. I had to gamble that suddenly discovering that I'm a cursed creature from another world would probably do the trick. Should have seen it, I really played up my status as a harbinger of doom, I even thanked him for being willing to bring that bad luck of mine down on his kingdom. He couldn't get out of there fast enough!"

 Taiki laughed, albeit a little nervously. His situation was similar in a way.

 "I generously agreed to spread the story that his proposal was nothing more than a New Years mix-up with the flowers. He has agreed to generously increase our trade agreements."

 Gyousou caught the contented smugness she was radiating and stared in dumbfounded disbelief. A mischievous smile transformed her face into one that looked closer to her physical appearance instead of the cool dignified mask she wore all the time.

  _:This woman...:_ he thought, shaking his head.

 Not only had she managed to avoid a major diplomatic incident, but she had blackmailed a king now eagre to make reparations and save face for better trading agreements while she was at it. Scary.

 "I'm tired, good luck on your plans for national domination," Yuka said, covering a yawn. She bowed politely and took herself and her bevy of maids off to her own quarters to sleep. Gyousou turned back to his reports. It was fortuitous how it had ended, but he really didn’t think that that would be the last he would have to do with the matter.


	14. Crescit Cum Commercio Civitas (Civilization prospers with commerce)

Throughout the night and next morning, Gyousou came to a better understanding of the state of matters in his kingdom. He came to see that it was not quite as bad as everyone assumed. It was bad, no mistake, but Yuka and Taiki (mostly Yuka by the look of things) had been setting things up for his eventual return. She had decided to tear a page from his book and had slowly but surely been picking out promising and capable people that she thought would make fine ministers, but instead of using the army, Yuka pulled all of hers from the schools, businesses and other various places in the private sector. She hadn't been able to install any of them into administrative positions directly, but she had given a certain amount of patronage and seen to it that her chosen people received assignments that would allow them to gain skills that would be useful.

 For example, one fellow graduated from the examinations but was denied even a small position in court, however Yuka had him moved to the trade-city of Sen and placed him in charge of managing the books for the Gyoujou Merchant Consortium, from there she had put him under the secretary of eastern docks in charge of all trade in and out on that side of the river, and from that point moved him over to a secretarial position on the Lower City guardhouse docket, after that he became head secretary of the granaries in the city of Youki in charge of keeping the granary adequately stocked to supply each citizen throughout the winters) then on to the census house in Nanting. It was a very well-rounded education, and based on his performance the man was going to make a brilliant minister with an excellent understanding of the economics of trade Tai depended on, and an appreciation for the difficulties of dealing with Tai's winters. She had a list of such young women and men of potential and integrity about as long as his arm, all of them carefully trained, even nurtured, as a gardener nurtured promising young shoots to grow into mighty oaks.

  _:It must really irritate her, having all of these capable people she's been grooming to help take some of the burden, and not able to put them into place to make things easier for her,:_ Gyousou thought pityingly.

 He signed off on several forms, recommending that certain people be placed here and there to shore up the various places within the bureaucracies of the various ministries that had been listing badly. She knew where most of the problems were, which was a mercy. Yuka called it "mapping out the rot" where she had several of her own personal spies ferreting out the officials who took bribes and created troubles. Sometimes she was able to reassign them (even if she couldn't demote them or rid herself of them entirely) to harmless busywork or put them in places where they would not be able to do as much damage.

 "Your majesty, eighty percent of Tai's forces are assembled and await your command," Risai said, entering with a bow. "All supply trains have been assembled and are ready to move out."

 Gyousou looked over at her, a little taken aback.

 "Supply trains are difficult to move, especially in winter, General," he felt obliged to point out. "Moving goods and weapons overland is--"

 "Not anymore, your majesty," she corrected. "I used the Royal Seal to annex the use of all available skyways and ordered them to move the goods and troops double time. It was not a problem. The last of the troops in Sui Province and in southern Ki Province are being moved as we speak."

 "And their supplies?"

 "Personal gear has been strapped to the underside of the conveyance," Risai replied. "Food and medical supplies, as well as personnel in charge of such, has been placed in the conveyances behind the troops. A single day more and all of your forces will be assembled. The kuukoshi (air forces) are assembled with spare mounts and supplies."

 "Very good, general," he said approvingly. "And the ships along the coast?"

 "Making their way north sir, though the ice is still giving them some trouble, they will be able to make it into position. Shall I order the kuukoshi to land on decks and await orders?"

 "Have them stand by for now," Gyousou said decisively. "Out of curiosity general, how is it that you knew that you would be able to move this many troops this quickly? It's unheard of, especially in winter."

 Risai flashed a quick, fierce grin.

 "Lady Yuka was quick to appreciate the civilian application for the skyways, getting the goods she needed sold to their ports and markets quickly while not being impeded overland by the untraversible winter terrain. Master Taiki saw the use of the skyways for humanitarian aid, sending needed food and medical supplies to outlying towns and villages that would ordinarily need them but not be able to receive then due to weather conditions."

 Gyousou nodded, appreciating the charicteristic truths.

 "I, however was quick to appreciate their strategic uses in readying the field of combat quickly," Risai said. "I have ordered several covert dry runs disguised as deploying emergency troops to handle youma problems and supply drops for humanitarian aid to test out the system's ability to handle quick and massive troop and supply movement preparatory to just such maneuvers, your majesty."

 "Well done, thank you general, as you were."

 "Sir!" Risai quickly bowed her exit and went back to handling the army.

 Taiki poked his nose in and said

 "Yuka wants to know if you want to meet with the king of Han privately before he leaves, now that he's not going to cause any trouble, or if you just want her to handle everything."

 Gyousou gave it a moment's consideration.

 "I will meet with him, ask her if she will attend."

 "Yes Your Majesty," he said, disappearing back to the palace he shared with the girl.

  _:After the masterful recovery she pulled off last night, and everything she’s written down that I've read, I should probably stop thinking of her as a **girl** ,:_ he thought with a small headshake as he pulled on the black imperial hanfuu.

 He stepped out into the royal garden that separated his own Seiden Palace from Meiden Palace (though officially, both of them were actually Seiden palace, Meiden was more casually known as the place where Taiki slept) to find the consorts maids trickling out into the garden (and scanning the area for threats). Shortly afterward the Royal Consort stepped out.

  _:Woah...:_ he thought, surprised and taken aback.

 He'd seen her dressed for court and for receiving royal envoys, and her clothes had been lovely enough and tasteful enough to cover the occasion if a bit on the plain side. Her make-up and jewelry had been enough to pass without comment, but nothing that even a less-favored lady of the former king’s retinue would have worn. Gyousou was caught literally tongue tied by how lovely she could make herself when she clearly chose to exert great effort.

 The ensemble she had chosen was flawless in the coordination of its colors of pale blue, dark blue and silver and beautifully exotic but tasteful in its design. Her  feet were encased in soft boots folded over at the tops with tooling in the leather and she wore a pale ice-blue full skirt that was pleated and embroidered up along one side with stylized climbing roses in the knotworks well known in the north of Tai . There was a matching shirt of pale blue that was cut close to her arms with embroidered cuffs that pointed down over the knuckle of her middle finger. The shirt and underskirt were covered by an over-dress cut to reveal both layers. The overcoat was divided down the middle and held in closed by a wide sash with knotwork embroidery in a stripe across the middle, and the bottom hem of the over-robe was covered in three inches of incredibly intricate knotworks in silver thread. The top was partly opened to display the shirt under it, and the sleeves were slashed at the top, then cut back at the elbows to hang down like two long furosode, encrusted with intricate knotwork embroidery. In front of the scoop neckline of the overrobe was an incredibly intricate necklace, clearly made with gems found in Tai. Intricate earrings to match dangled beside her ears, and bangles and two rings glinted on her hands. Her long black hair was braided and fashioned in an intricate pattern, with a set of jeweled combs and hairsticks with gem-beads hanging down from them, glinting in the morning sun. Her make-up was subtle, it almost seemed she wasn't wearing any, but there was a slight darkness to her eyes and lips. She bowed politely, her face its usual diplomatic mask.

 "That is... you look... slightly different from your usual," he managed at last.

 It had been a long time since he'd ever stammered in the presence of a woman. He had never seen such an unusual ruqun, the sleeves on the shenyi were strange, and the bottom hems were unusually shortened, more like a khuze and it divided down the middle instead of being wrapped left over right or even fastened down the side, the neck line too more resembled the horizontal neckline favored by the court in the days of Queen Lintao, but the undergarment was very different. The sleeves of the undershirt were cut close to the wrist and the pants were made with crisp folds that radiated outward. Very peculiar, but not unattractive.

 "Thank-you, your majesty," Yuka replied politely, there was a certain sort of glitter in her eyes that he wasn't quite certain what to make of. He found out what it was a moment later.

 "Hopefully, this will make do."

 "Do?" he questioned.

 "Yes, I must redeem my honor today," Yuka replied, looking strangely intent. Her teeth were gritted, as if she wanted revenge for something.

 "Your admirer meant you no harm, Lady Yuka," he said, feeling a little sorry for the erstwhile suitor.

 "That Go Ranjou dared to imply that he was more fashionable than me!" Yuka said in a very feminine outrage.

 "Huh?" Gyousou said, completely caught off-guard.

 "He called me plain and dull! And said that my clothes were fit for an old woman! I'll show him!"

 Yuka turned around full circle, clearly intending that he should admire her.

 "I had this dress made on my own orders a while ago. I've been saving it for a special occasion. I can't think of anything better than using it to shut him up. I mean, he probably thinks orange is the new pink or something! Prepare yourself Han-idiot, we'll see who's tastes are boring!"

  _:Is this really happening_?: Gyousou wondered. _:He comes to court her, completely inappropriately, but instead winds up putting her in a snit over her clothes. Worse yet, she responds by dressing up nicely to put him in his place? What kind of crazy politics does this woman operate with? And that Han emperor, he's as crazy as she is!:_

 Gyousou felt a headache coming on. He sighed as he escorted the crazed little fashionista to the private reception room in Seiden Palace, a place that probably hadn't been opened up in years. He was sure that Taiki didn't see much in the way of guests, besides the occassional visit from his friend Keiki, and Yuka would be too wary of cries of impropriety to meet with a strange man alone in a private place.

  _:I have to admit that she can put herself together,:_ Gyousou thought as the walked side by side through his rooms.

 Yuka had once written in her notes, which sometimes read almost more like a private journal, that she never once underestimated the power of appearances. She always looked her best because clothes were a sort of armor. It was hard enough to maintain her shaky authority, and oftentimes maintaining that rested on her ability to make her opponents underestimate her.

 Gyousou politely seated his acting-consort and then himself in the inner courtyard garden then waited for the other emperor to show up. He wondered what in the world he was supposed to say to the man as an ice-breaker. "So, you dropped by to steal my wife" didn't seem like it would go over well. It was weird thinking of the girl in terms of a relationship with him, and he got the feeling that despite the fact that she did so much on behalf of "her husband" Yuka was just as uncomfortable with it as he was.

 "Don't make such a scary face, you're going to make him think you intend to kill him," Yuka said, looking over at him from the corner of her eye. He wondered how it was that women always managed to look at things so obliquely that you could never be quite sure what it was they were looking at or how much they had seen.

 "What scary face?" he asked, genuinely confused. "This is how I always look."

 "You always look like you're going to pounce on something and eat it?" she questioned. "Smile!"

 Gyousou looked back at her blankly. There was nothing funny to smile about.

 Yuka sighed.

 "Han-ou is never going to believe you want to make friends if you don't look a little friendlier."

 "We are trading partners, not friends," The king replied. "And he attacked my pride last night. In fact, if I think about it, the resolution was good but still slightly insulting. He's decided that you're not good enough for him and rejected Tai's Royal Consort."

 "So what if he dropped me like a hot rock?" Yuka replied. "All that matters is that we get those trade agreements I want... and that he acknowledges my fashion-superiority to him. That's important too."

 "It's not important at all," he argued, seriously wondering about her priorities.

 "Blasphemy and sacrilege!" Yuka said in mild offense. "That was _real_ silk I was wearing last night! It's expensive, and the color suited me, even if the cut was a little dowdy. He could at least have acknowledged my ability to accessorize; those jade beads were personally picked out and designed by me!"

 "I think you're missing the point here," he said.

 They were both spared from further useless argument over what was indeed the point of the meeting by the announcement of the entrance of Han-ou. Yuka and Gyousou both rose simultaneously and Yuka gave a polite bow while Gyousou, as the king of the country, remained in place. On seeing the man dressed in the black imperial hanfuu of the Royal Tai, Go Ranjou's eyes widened in dismay.

 "Please have a seat," the Tai-ou invited gesturing to a chair nearby.

 Despite his "pretty" appearance, the emperor of Han did look a little bit like a mouse that knows the cat is watching it and is hoping it might decide to find its meal elsewhere. To put him more at ease (hopefully) Gyousou signaled a servant to bring them something to drink.

 A servant brought in wine and glasses for the Royal Han, quite possibly from his own stock, and another brought in tea on a service. Yuka looked a question at both of them as she reached for the pot and received a nod from Gyousou and a negation from Go. The wine was poured by its attendant. As Yuka poured the tea, the king of Han's eyes lit on her and took in every detail with lingering appreciation.

 "It seems I was mistaken," he said, nodding at her clothes.

 Yuka smiled, carefully hiding the smugness she was no doubt feeling about it.

 "How is that my dear Royal Han?" she inquired politely.

 "I had thought I was coming to rescue you from a life of toil in which you were forced to wear such terrible plain and unfashionable clothes that were far from elegant," he replied. "But it seems your king at least has some small ability to dress you well."

 "I designed it myself," Yuka preened.

 "You must be more firm in that case, your ladyship," Go Ranjou said, seriously, leaning forward. "I know he may complain, but you must ignore him."

 "Ignore who?" she asked over her tea.

 "Your husband, when he says he does not need to change the qun (outer wrap) he is wearing. It's at lest ten years out of date, and those colors! No, you must take him in hand on the matter of accessories."

 "My husband is a warrior my dear Han," Yuka said with a bright, beaming political smile. "I am advised by him to pick my battles."

 Go Ranjou laughed and Gyousou sensed all of the tension drain from the room. It was more than mere affront about his comments on her clothes that had prompted her to wear what was clearly one of the best ensembles she possessed, Yuka had to have been aware of Han-ou's love of fashion and acted to both break the ice and smooth the way to better relations.

 They discussed the merits of parasols for a short while and then moved on to a brief debate over those who wore gloves in the summertime. Ranjou told her of a particularly lovely bolt of maroon satin he had come across, and they discussed what colors and patterns it should be embroidered with.

  _:They sound more like debutantes or gossipy housewives rather than a head of state and an acting Consort,:_ Gyousou thought, doing his best to stay well out of the conversation. He disliked matters of fashion.

 "My! And what is this?!" Go Ranjou said, suddenly seizing her hand and bringing it up into the light.

 Gyousou attention was brought to a piece of jewelry that he'd only partly noticed before. A panja, it went over the back of the hand, with a ring for the middle finger to slip through that widened in a triangular shape over the back of the hand and gently hooked around the meat of the thumb and the wrist. The panja was a knotwork-peice that supported a single large cabochon jewel that was multifaceted on the underside. This jewel was like nothing he had ever seen before, and as the king of a nation known for its gems, he had seen a lot of them. This jewel was not one color, but somehow managed to be several different colors depending on how the light hit it. One minute it looked blue, then the shadow would turn to green, then purple, the colors chasing themselves back and forth inside the jewel in such a way that it was obviously not the result of painting the underside of a clear gem.

 "It's so beautiful!" the king of Han exclaimed in delight. "I have never seen its like anywhere before, ever!"

 "Oh? This old thing?" Yuka said with a feigned careless flick of her wrists. "Well it's not surprising really. I had it grown especially for me. The technique took a little trial and error, but a lady must have her hobbies you know. They're really difficult to produce. In fact I've only made a few of them, I've been so busy with other things that it just didn't seem worth the time and bother."

 "How can you say that?" the king of Han said, still admiring her jewel. "Beauty, especially rare beauty is always worth cultivating. And there are only a few others, you say?"

 "No point in having a rare gem if everyone knows how to make them," Yuka nodded.

 "It's exquisite," Go Ranjou said. "I can already see my beautiful kirin wearing this gem. The shade even matches her eyes, and with matching silk..."

 Yuka exchanged a quick, amused glance with Gyousou and he comprehended the entirety of it. She'd planned it from the very start. She'd had it waiting on hand and was clearly looking for a way to make a big entrance onto the market for the gem, and one couldn't get a much bigger entrance than the fashion crazed, eccentric king of Han. Yuka's dark eyes glittered in carefully concealed anticipation.

 "It seems you've hit on my weakness Your Majesty," Yuka said. "You see, I have a soft spot for kirin, as I'm sure you've heard. I could hardly deny your sweet Hanrin the delight of having something new and pretty. I will send a set of them as a gesture of goodwill. You may have to wait a few weeks however, they are very difficult to grow, which is why until now these have been the only ones."

  _:One would think that a king would be able to see through such an obvious ploy, but he's eating it up whole cloth!:_ Gyousou thought incredulously.

 Then again, he had never seen such a jewel either to be honest, so it could be that she was speaking the truth. Gyousou only half-believed that however, Yuka was taking entirely too much care to stress their rarity. While they might be rare, he was betting that it was more along the lines of her controlling the knowledge to produce the things, which she planned to conceal in the interests of inflating the prices.

  _:But that's the secret to selling luxury goods,:_ Gyousou thought as he sat back and left her to it. _:A scarce commodity, even one that is only **perceived** to be scarce, is always far more expensive than something just as lovely but far more common.:_

 He had seen it so with gem springs certainly. Agate springs could grow their particular gem in wide varieties of the clearest, most beautifully colored stones, but those stones were not worth as much as the ones that emerged from emerald springs or ruby springs simply because the latter were far more rare in number and took longer to grow. It was a fact that the economy of Tai relied upon. One could not eat rocks, so in order to bring the money in trade that the kingdom needed to augment expenses, it relied upon other kingdoms being stable enough to spend their wealth on perceived value.

 "Of course," Yuka went on smoothly. "While I can offer you a few of these from my own private collection, you will have to speak with my dear husband if you wish to discuss opening a trade."

  _:And here I was beginning to wonder why I'd even bothered to show up_ ,: Gyousou thought with some small irony _. :The girl has become sadly accustomed to handling matters on her own. I'm almost surprised she handed it over to me and didn't try to open negotiations.:_

 "I have a small scroll with an estimate of their value per carat drawn up, but since relations between Han and Tai are so strong, its goes without saying that the price is somewhat negotiable. If I have your leave, gentlemen?"

 Yuka rose and bowed gracefully. Gyousou nodded, allowing her dismissal. The direct look she gave him communicated silently a demand; 'don't screw this up' Gyousou gave her a sharp look in reply, 'I don't need you to tell me that.'

 "Ah Tai-ou, I am envious of you," Han-ou said as soon as Yuka has departed with elegant grace. "You are a very lucky man to have such a treasure adorning your palace."

 "Thank-you," he said simply, trying not to feel awkward about accepting compliments from a man who admired a wife that Gyousou possessed in name only. "She's something else, that is for certain."

 "A pity that she is a kaikyaku and has brought such misfortune to your land, but I can't blame you for keeping her despite her unfortunate curse. Are you certain that is wise however?"

 "The Royal Consort has never done anything with the intention of harming this land," Gyousou replied with careful honesty. "If unfortunate events befall around her, that's hardly her fault and I would not punish her for it."

 "You are a generous man too, I see. I suppose that is why she chose to stay with you," Go Ranjou said a bit wistfully. "In that case, we should turn matters to business."

 The King of Han and the Royal Tai spent the next hour ironing out a renewal of the usual trade agreements, plus a tentative agreement on those new gems that Yuka had dangled before him. The price she was asking was so shocking that Gyousou had nearly choked on his tea when he saw them, but Han-ou seemed to take it in stride and haggled only a little, and at that mostly over the amount that he might be able to procure.

  _:He's going to bankrupt his kingdom!:_ Gyousou thought, aghast and a little pityingly for the other land.

 Tai was cash-poor right then and Risai had reported that many of the southern gem-springs were still slightly depleted, or at least not growing to optimum efficiency, but Han hadn't even blinked at the outrageous price Yuka had named for her opening bid. All he'd said was, "my, that's a bit high" but Han's counter-offer had been ridiculously high as well, not even cutting off a full fifteen percent!

  _:Still I suppose I can't complain about it,:_ Gyousou thought.

 He was going to need the extra money to fund the end of Tai's civil wars after all. Even Yuka had grasped that fielding an army didn't come cheaply, and fielding one during the winter-time could be even more difficult. He was pleased to be able to defray the expenses.

 :But since the Emperor of Han is here right now, it would be sensible of me to kill to birds with one stone,: Gyousou thought to himself.

 On closer investigation into matters with the northern provinces he had a few strategies that were coming together but would have to wait for the next few days to pass first before he could commit definitely to a particular plan of action.

 “Han-ou,” he said as the business side of negotiations closed and it was simply himself and the other emperor sipping their respective drinks. “My Kouri has mentioned on several occasions how very much he enjoyed his visit to your kingdom. As you know it has been impossible for him to make another such journey so far away from Tai for the last few decades, I hope it would not be too much an imposition on your gracious hospitality if I requested your leave to offer him another such visit as a reward for all of his hard work.”

 “I don’t suppose he would come accompanied by your lovely Royal Consort,” Han-ou said with bold cheer, flicking his fan open and tittering a bit behind it.

 “I fear that the Royal Consort will be needed in Tai for some small time yet,” Gyousou said drolly.

 “Ah, a pity,” he said not bothering to hide his disappointment.

 :One would have thought that, as one of kings involved with my situation, he would be aware of the nature of the Royal Consorts marriage to me,: Gyousou thought.

 Perhaps the Royal Hou _was_ aware of the fact that theirs was not a love match, and that was why he was pursuing Tai’s Royal Consort without any regard to the legalities of the situation. On one hand it was quite possible that Han-ou was ignorant of how things really stood between Gyousou and his surprise consort; the details of any particular kingdom’s family situation was not widely publicized when a ruler took the throne, In general all that any given kingdom’s rulers knew about any other when a new ruler was enthroned was that a ruler _had_ been enthroned. It wasn’t like the hakuchi gave out news about another kingdom’s personal details when it sang out the news that a ruler had been chosen. “Enthroned!” was about the extent of its message with regards to the ascension of another kingdom’s ruler, so it wasn’t as though there would have been  extensive knowledge given about his proxy marriage to Lady Yuka. On the other hand, Hou-ou was widely rumored to be quite willful and unaccommodating when the mood struck; his pickiness in matters of aesthetics was legendary… his pursuit of Lady Yuka might simply be another sign of his willfulness.

 “Naturally, Hou would be pleased to host Tai’s Kirin,” he said graciously. “His sense of aesthetic in matters of art has always highly recommended him in my eyes, and I believe we would have quite the grand time together.”

“My thanks,” Gyousou said.

 The sound of laughter and the gentle strum of instruments tickled at the edge of their hearing, coming from the direction of Meiden Palace and the Royal Han perked up in interest.

 “Perhaps we should indulge in a stroll about your gardens,” he suggested, rising and heading over to the door. “I’m sure the fresh air will do wonders.”

 Gyousou barely refrained from shaking his head in amusement at the man’s obvious ploy and also rose to accompany him. Not that Lady Yuka, surrounded by a dozen battle-train handmaids, couldn’t hold off one man if he chose to make a move on her but it would be best to keep an eye on things in case Han-ou got any more adventurous. She was too diplomatic for her own good.


	15. Tempus Saltandi   (A Time to Dance)

The King of Han signed the new agreements on the spot and rose, walking out into the courtyard garden that separated Seiden and Meiden palace. The garden was unusually full, the Taiho and the Royal Consort were both taking advantage of the rare break in their usually hectic schedules, and it seemed that a winter garden party had been called for to celebrate the lapse in routine. Having a pretty good idea of what that Go Ranjou was really after, Gyousou followed him to keep matters from getting out of hand.

 Taiki sat by the edge of the garden pond, his slight frame wrapped in blankets to ward away the chill of the Tai winter that penetrated even to the Imperial Palace. A decorative stone fire pit blazed cheerfully nearby to warm the celebrants. The sounds of shrieks and laughter and music sailed over the walls and the sight that greeted them as they maneuvered past the gate was one of impromptu gaiety.  Yuka and her bevy of handmaids (or were they bodyguards? Gyousou was never quite sure…) were out in full force, filling the garden. The younger handmaidens were running around laughing and shrieking like children as they played a game that was part tag and part snowball fight, while the older battle-maid variety of handmaid settled near the fire pits alongside their mistress, instruments in hand. Yuka was playing some strange stringed instrument of a make that Gyousou had never seen before. It was flatter and smaller than a guitern, with less strings, but was played with a bow like an erhu and instead of being held upright on the lap was perched precariously on a shoulder.

 "Ah, Yuka!" Taiki said cheerfully. "Is that the new one that was given to you by Nakajima-san?"

 "Yes," Yuka said with a genuine smile, Gyousou could tell it was genuine because it had dimples. He noticed that they didn't appear as often as her politic smiles, the ones that were part of her mask, and then, he'd only ever seen them around Taiki.

 "Are you going to play something for me?" Taiki asked next. "You don't play as often as you used to."

 "It's hard to feel like playing with so much going on," Yuka replied honestly. "And I rarely have spare time."

 "Play something happy!" Taiki urged her.

 "As my Taiho commands," Yuka said with an ironic bow in his direction.

 She warmed the instrument up then launched into a fast-paced piece that could have pulled right out of any inn or tavern in the north of Tai. She fumbled the fingerings a bit at first, clearly not warmed up or having practiced in a while, but after a moment or two her hands remembered what they were supposed to do. Taiki and a few of the maids joined hands to dance there in the garden, ostensibly for the purpose of warming their bodies, laughing and leaping about on the pattern of the energetic Running Dance.

 : _I Haven't heard that song in some years,:_ Gyousou thought appreciatively as he, too settled in to listen as well as keep an eye on the king of Han who had walked right over to settle himself at Yuka's feet, ostensibly to listen to the music better, but the lengthy look and eyebrow raise that Yuka shot Gyousou said it was lost on neither of them the way Han-ou leaned up against her legs, all but putting his head in her lap. Gyousou shook his head a little at this, he wasn't sure whether to consider the emperor brave or foolish.

  _:After all, it's one thing to flirt in letters from miles away, but quite another to press inappropriate displays of affection on someone when visiting them in their own country,:_ Gyousou thought _. :I have heard he's a good king despite his eccentricities, he has to be aware that he is placing the poor girl in an awkward position. Even so, his regard for her seems genuine.:_

 The visiting emperor seemed quite enchanted by Yuka as she began to play a lovely slow piece that Gyousou had never heard before. Yuka, for her part, ignored him utterly, choosing instead to concentrate on her playing, and pretend that her erstwhile foot-warmer didn't exist. It wasn't open distain, but it was clear she wasn't pleased with him either.

 The next song she launched into was an instrumental rendition of "Fair Wife of the Ocean" a traditional ballad about a young fisherman who stole the wife of the king of the ocean and brought calamity to his kingdom by inviting the youma in. The next one she played was another folksong, this one about two male friends, one of which betrayed his friend by stealing away the woman he loved, causing the two of them to fight to the death and the woman to die of a broken heart.

  _:I'm sensing a theme here,:_ Gyousou thought ironically.

 The king of Han either did not know the songs and was thus unable to appreciate Yuka's subtle hint, or he simply didn't care, for he sat there making calf-eyes at her while she started on another song. After that one failed to produce any noticeable change in his inconvenient adoration, Yuka looked over at Taiki exasperatedly as if to say "can't this man take a hint?" The two of them had been partners for so long that they had an entire silent language, probably created in the royal court where there was a great deal that could not be said out loud. Gyousou suppressed a small pang of jealousy that his kirin would be able to be so familiar and comfortable around someone who was not him.

 Yuka played another song, a slower piece, again along the same theme as the two before it and this time Taiki looked over to his king to shoo the visiting royal off. Reading the look as a request, Gyousou got up from the place he'd settled in (with the intention of going over some more paperwork) and walked over to sit down right next to Tai’s Royal Consort, who made room for him. The girl looked at him out of the corner of one eye and turned back to concentrating on her playing. Han-ou audaciously squeezed in closer against her legs, actually resting a chin on one knee and smiling charmingly up at her.

  _:Is he trying to pick a fight?:_ Gyousou wondered to himself, a little irritated now at what could be rightly perceived as a challenge to him.

 He saw that Yuka was wondering the same thing, when she exchanged another look with Taiki, who smiled with a wince clearly saying 'well really, what can be done?' Yuka responded with a flat look, as though she had a few ideas and none of them were very nice.

 Gyousou was perfectly well aware that if left to her own devices, Lady Yuka would go on being polite and diplomatic in the face of the foreign king’s _outrageous_ behavior purely out of interest in those newly signed trade agreements. Of course, her diplomacy would only encourage that Go Ranjou to ignore all propriety and continue acting in his bold fashion. Gyousou understood that subtlety and polity were the hallmarks of her quasi-reign with Taiki, but the Peace-King of Tai, ex-general that he was, was more inclined to handle matters in a direct fashion.

  _:While her subtlety and restraint are admirable,:_ Gyousou thought with an internal headshake. _:In this matter, perhaps the direct approach is best.:_

 He caught the eye of the lead instrumentalist and sent a subtle hand sign that they should change songs. The ladies all looked positively delighted, exchanging conspirational looks and smiles with one another. Gyousou rose to his feet and gently set a restraining hand on the Royal Consort’s playing arm. She gave him a quizzical look as she paused in her playing and he motioned that she should set aside her instrument. Looking mystified as to his intent, she nonetheless acquiesced when he gently pulled her to her feet. The playing handmaidens changed their tune to a slow, intimate pavane. Gyousou pretended to ignore the imperial nuisance crouched at his consort’s feet as he pulled her into the center of the gardens while the rest of the handmaids cleared out of the way so they could dance.

 For the first time since he had known her, Gyousou got the opportunity to see the Royal Consort caught off-guard when he pulled her in close for the opening form. She stiffened, instinctively pulling away when he gently put a hand at the small of her back and Gyousou was forced to steady her by holding her in position firmly. The look she flashed him before she managed to school her features again looked like a cross between surprise and shy embarrassment. It had been a vary long time indeed since he had last danced with a woman, not since his wife had passed away in fact, but by the uncomfortable flush on his partners face he wondered if this might be the very first time she had _ever_ been asked to dance.

  _:It’s possible,:_ he realized with chagrin a moment later. _:Kouri has said that they were both still of an age to be in schooling yet when she took up the mantle of Royal Consort. If she had not had any such experience before she stood next to Tai’s throne, then she would not have had any such opportunities afterward, I would wager, for fear of rumors about favoritism at best and adultery at worst.:_

Depending on the personality of the woman in question, never having had the opportunity to be asked to dance could be seen as a big deal.

 She went through the motions smoothly and with a consummate grace that was probably the fruit of decades of training, though he noticed that she tried to keep her gaze fixed downward. That wouldn’t do. There would be no convincing Go Ranjou to cease his pursuit of her if the foreign king was not convinced that there was nothing here in Tai for him to pursue. To that end she needed to appear to have eyes only for him. Gyousou gently tilted her face up to meet his. The steps of the dance had them spiraling around each other, like two moths circling a flame, twirling out and away only to be brought back in close again as though pulled by their own gravity to one another. Their bodies were drawn close to one another but the only part of them that met in contact were their hands pressed flat to one another. When they danced in close he held her gaze, though by the subtle tension on her hands it was clear she would have looked away if she could have. Even under the pale make-up of the royal consort she looked a bit flushed, and clearly discomfited.

  _:Poor thing,:_ he thought, this time in private amusement. _:Clearly, she is not accustomed to dancing with strange men.:_

 The song finished and she made her ending curtsy, and would just as obviously liked to bolt for the safety of his kirin, who was probably her only dance partner, but Gyousou held her firmly to his side. Han-ou had really stayed as long as he was welcome to for now. Gyousou had a kingdom to settle and was more eager to be about it rather than entertain foreign royalty (no matter how welcome their trade agreements), it was time to shuffle the man off so that Gyousou could be about his business. Otherwise the man would surely offer to “protect” his Royal Consort by offering to take her back to Han with him, and Gyousou had plans for Her Royal Usefulness right where she was.

 "Han-ou," Gyousou said, keeping a little space between the beleaguered Royal Consort and the visiting Royal Han by tucking her arm in his as a display of solidarity. "It is getting late and my kirin, my Consort and myself have many matters to attend to here in Tai. Perhaps you might like us to see you to your kijyuu?"

 Perhaps it was not as subtle as he was sure his Consort would come up with, but he had the feeling that subtlety and polity would all be ignored by that insouciant ruler if given half a chance.

 "Ah, of course," the foreign king said not taking his eyes off Lady Yuka. "It has been a pleasure to visit, you must come see Han some day soon. It's a great deal warmer."

 Yuka kept her eyes down, apparently wary of giving him even the least sign of encouragement. Her cheeks were very slightly pink, so Gyousou considerately caught her elbow in his hand to keep her right by his side and out of Han's way.

 "Your offer is all generosity," Yuka reassured him.

 Gyousou noted that she didn't say anything about going for a visit. The two of them (and Yuka's usual entourage of women) plus Taiki, walked with the Emperor down to the south gate where he would meet up with the rest of his entourage, who was already packed and ready to leave. They made the usual polite farewells and well wishes for a safe journey.

 "I hope your kirin likes the present," Yuka said, warily not coming very close to the foreign king’s kijyuu, possibly half-worried he might actually try to pull her up onto it and kidnap her. "Send dear Hanrin my regards."

 “I will, and please remember that my invitation to visit stands open at any time,” he said with a smile at her.

 “Safe journey to you, Han-ou,” Gyousou said, with grave courtesy.

 “Hmm. You’d think a man like yourself would be boring,” Han-ou replied with unusual frankness for him. “There’s certainly _something_ usual about you. I think you may be a man who will live up to his own legend, and that is not something to be said lightly.”

 “I cannot help what legends others might make of me. A tiger never sees its own stripes, or so they say,” Gyousou said, setting aside his usual reserve to show the teeth and claws of the tiger in his smile.

 “So they say,” Han-ou replied, acknowledging the unspoken challenge between them. “Time will tell. Best of luck to you king of Tai, may you reign a thousand years.”

 “And to you, King of Han.”

 The kijyuu flew up into the air and off into the distance.

 "Don't let the door hit you where the Tentei split you!" Yuka muttered vehemently now that there was no danger of him overhearing.

 "Now now Yuka, it's been a long time since we've had guests, I'd thought you'd be happy about it," Taiki said. "His behavior wasn't any worse than Komatsu-san's is normally."

 "There's a difference between Han-ou's behavior and that womanizing Ever-letch's behavior," Yuka maintained as the three of them made their way back to the imperial apartments via a secret route so that Gyousou would not be seen. "Naotaka Komatsu never means anything of what he says. This guy would have carried me off like Helen of Troy if he could have gotten away with it."

 "Helen of Troy?" Gyousou inquired.

 Taiki and Yuka explained the basic story of the literary classic, though Gyousou had a hard time wrapping his mind around the idea that one kingdom could just decide to pack up their troops and go take over another kingdom just because of a perceived slight. It was against the Laws of Heaven in his world.

 "Well that why there's never any peace where we come from," Taiki said sadly. "Someone is always fighting someone else over something."

 "I hate hearing you kings whine so much sometimes," Yuka said with one of her expressive eye-rolls. "You all have no idea how good you've all got it! No invading forces, no international posturing and sabre-rattling to keep more powerful nations off your back, no terrorists, no fanatical religious wars that go on for hundreds and hundreds of years and it impossible to declare a winner..."

 "Next time I get the urge to complain, I suppose I shall keep that in mind," Gyousou said gamely.

 "You don't look like you complain much," Yuka replied. "You look like one of those manly-stoic types."

 "That's a compliment?" he said, uncertainly.

 "Well anyway, I'll leave you to your work," Yuka said, departing for her own quarters, leaving him with Taiki.

 "Gyousou-sama," Taiki said. "Will you really have to leave so soon? You just woke up."

 "I'm afraid so, Kouri," he said gently. "This divide will not settle itself quickly, even when I fire the four leaders of the insurrectionists. I will have to lead the fight against it in order to firmly reunite Tai again."

 Gyousou left unsaid the worry he felt in his heart, that if he did not hurry, Kouri would become sick and Gyousou would not be swift enough to prevent it.

 "I know I can leave the court safely in your hands," he encouraged the kirin.

 "But..." Kouri protested. "What if someone tries to attack me or Yuka again?"

 It was a valid concern. This whole mess had started because Gyousou had been forced to leave his kirin behind. He had not been unprotected at that time for Risai had been there, but it had not been enough.

 "I will have to act quickly, and return before they get a chance," Gyousou said, with a soft smile as he reached out to ruffle his kirins hair. "Until that point, you and the girl will have to carry on as you have done."

 "That Han-ou certainly seemed to like her a lot," Taiki remarked happily. "I think when she leaves to find her own husband, she should talk to him first."

 "Huh? _Leaves_?" Gyousou asked, startled. "When is she leaving?"

 He hadn't heard anything about this!

 "As soon as she knows Tai and I are going to be okay," Taiki replied, as though it were a matter of course. "She's really old already, and tired of dealing with the court. I think she plans on having a vacation then running around to look for a husband."

 "She already has one," he pointed out, a little miffed.

 "Gyousou-sama, you were a proxy marriage," Taiki replied, as though it should be obvious. "She hadn't even said a single word to you before she agreed to be your wife, so that's not a _real_ marriage. You two aren't in love. Yuka's put everything on hold to help me out, now's her chance to have her own life and be happy."

 "Hnh... I guess I can't deny that one," Gyousou replied. "And what about you, Kouri? Have you missed out on life?"

 "The only life I need or want is right here with you, Gyousou-sama," the kirin replied.


	16. De Minimis Non Curat Praetor (The commander does not bother with the smallest things)

General Risai quickly perused the encoded document written in the strange characters from the other world that Yuka had taught to her little bevy of spies. It was so very unlike the writing style she was accustomed to, which relied on complex characters and many of the same sounds could have a thousand different meanings based on which character was used. The code was based on sound rather than a depiction of the object or idea, each character represented one of in some cases several sounds and they were strung together to make out what the word would be if pronounced aloud. It was also easy to switch out the different characters for each other, so that in the unlikely event a turncoat would get hold of a missive, the resulting message would make no sense unless they had the key. It had been a marvelously effective code for many years now.  
  
 _:A useful thing that, and so easy to cipher,:_ Risai thought.   
  
The latest intelligence read that the armies that had been posted long the pass-route to Cheinlen had assembled and moved further north. At last report they had just started to move west, and were presumed to have been ordered back to shore up fortifications at the gate-pass to Tungjou.   
  
_:That place already has a full blue unit, and the yellow unit that just put on the march will bring its strength up to a full white unit of ten thousand soldiers. Sheesh, where is their commander going to put them all, the barracks in that fortress are only designed for a single blue unit. They're going to be packed in like sardines since trying to make a winter camp is about out of the question with the way the weather is right now._ :  
  
She had just informed his majesty of the movements and he had adjusted the strategy for that area of the campaign. With his usual expertise he had turned a disadvantage (superior numbers and a fortress) to an advantage. 'The Fortress and pass might give them the high ground,' he'd said. 'But if we strike quickly, we will catch them at a moment when the soldiers have not yet settled in and will be disorganized and easier to defeat.' Having all of those fighters crammed into one small space would be like a kit of foxes attacking a chicken coop from all sides, the soldiers would be lax and undisciplined thus less able to mount an effective defense with everyone stumbling all over everyone else.  
  
The army was all but assembled now, all that was left was for the king to appear in the full court that evening and set things in motion. Risai couldn't wait. The troops under her were all but dancing in place in their eagerness to be off. They had been waiting to be ordered to the campaign for _years_ and it had been a source of general frustration to them to never be given the order to march. They and everyone knew that the provincial governors were not acting in the best interests of Tai, and the last thing any man or woman of Tai had a taste for was a long, drawn-out political feud... blood feuds were more the taste in this northern land.   
  
_:On one hand, I can see the good points. The superior infrastructure here in the south and the better job-markets have had the effect of clearing the north of most of the civilian population. Both Taiki and Yuka were concerned that the people should not suffer from war, but really, this nonsense has gone on for long enough!:_  
  
Risai would have been pleased if even Yuka had decided the head the army rather than engage in a protracted diplomatic running-dance.   
  
_:But maybe that's just the Tai in me talking.:_  
  
It was well known that the people of Tai enjoyed a good fight almost as much as they enjoyed a good ale or a good meal. Soldiering wasn't just a profession but more like a natural, national calling.   
  
_:I will at least hand her some points for good sense, the guild of hunter-warriors had some effect in channeling the worst of the brawler's energies as well as taking down the youma population.:_

Though of course, they had their downside as well. The city guard was often left to clean up the messes that members of that lot often got into on a night of prolonged drinking and trouble-making.  
  
 _:She's an astute politician, and she has managed things by manipulating the economy and gem-prices on the international market that I would have said were quite impossible... but she's difficult to really **like** ,:_ Risai thought to herself.   
  
The Royal Consort was cunning, and manipulative. She never used her abilities in a detrimental fashion, Risai had never seen her abuse her powers, not once. She could have chosen to live in a great deal of luxury, but she always believed that the palace budget was better spent on boosting Tai's economy. Even her wardrobe was quite frugal, she re-dyed and reused fabrics rather than buy new pieces, and she didn't have extravagant jewelry or decorations. Risai had seen for herself how hard she worked to make things better, but all the same Risai couldn't bring herself to like Yuka for it.   
  
_:Part of it may be a soldier's dislike for politicians,:_ Risai admitted.   
  
No matter how well-intentioned, Yuka was still cunning and manipulative, so it was hard to trust her, even _with_ the evidence of all Risai had seen the girl put herself through to save Taiki's life. Part of her still had this nagging, lingering doubt, the thought that she might have taken up the proxy-marriage as a way to take control of the throne. She might actually be working with Asen to keep Tai destabilized and that was why she had never ordered the troops assembled and marched into the north to take it herself. As much as Risai understood Consort Yuka's reasons for not engaging the superior armed forces in the north to concentrate instead on stabilizing the economy, the soldier in her insisted that the girl should have taken the direct approach, should have marched in and reunified the lands and put an end to matters for good.  
  
 _:Her constant dithering seems cowardly!:_ Risai thought to herself.  
  
She knew the girl wasn't dithering, that she even sort of had a plan in fact, but it felt like her refusal to go on the offensive was the mark of a weak coward who was too afraid to confront the problems directly.   
  
_:I know that I will not be the only one relieved that the proper king is back on the throne. Finally! We can have done with this instead of putting up with her useless politicking.:_  
  
She had known that Gyousou Saku would do what was right and necessary. He would lead the armies successfully and at last bring an end to all of this stupid sabre-rattling. For the first time in many decades, Risai could at last see an end to the extended wait, and a new hope for the future. However, now that she was free to contemplate that future, a strange thought occurred to her.  
  
 _:I wonder what his majesty will **do** with the Royal Consort,:_ Risai wondered.  
  
After all, it hadn't just been a marriage of convenience, but one made out of necessity and arranged by his kirin completely without Gyousou's permission. The Royal Tai had awoken from his sleep to find himself with a surprise consort. A woman who had interceded, unlooked for and unasked by him, a stranger (and a kaikyaku from another world no less), who had been using his authority and his name to do what she wished done with Tai.  
  
 _:Granted, I do not believe that Tai would have survived if she had not done as she did, but **still**...:_  
  
If she had not intervened,Tai would, in fact, still be at the non-existent mercy of General Asen, who had apparently been doing his very utmost to completely ruin the kingdom and keep it ruined. It was hard to feel grateful for all that she knew the girl had done when Risai had to put up with the constant nagging frustration of being held back by her. The general had brought up many, many _many_ times (to the point where they were surely both sick of it) that Yuka should do to the northern shuukou as she had done to the southern provinces with the armies of En and Kei, that was, to assemble Tai's troops who would come to the royal banner and march on the north.   
  
_:She's very intelligent, I still don't really see why she wouldn't take up arms. It's not like she's never been in a battle before! She is not incapable of it, and I would have been there to advise her strategy. She could have gathered the loyal soldiers in the five provinces that answered to her!:_  
  
It seemed like she always was insulting Risai's abilities by not letting her take on the armies of even just one province... preferably Jou, her home-province.   
  
_:That girl is guided too much by our merciful kirin,:_ Risai thought.   
  
The girl wasn't spineless. When it came time to fight, Yuka never hesitated to make a kill-strike. It was a very, very closely kept secret that Yuka possessed prowess as a fighter. It was kept a secret because much of her character depended on deceiving her enemies into underestimating her.  
  
 _:Ever since the beginning, since she sent Asen into imprisonment in exile instead of executing him outright, that girl has shown herself to be too lenient, too unwilling to engage an enemy and defeat him properly. The shuukou would never have taken her so lightly if she had just taken even one of them on!:_  
  
"You are frowning, general Risai," Gyousou remarked, entering the empty war-room where the General pored over the large map and sand-table set up for thier war strategy.   
  
Risai conscientiously smoothed her face.  
  
"It is no longer a concern, your majesty," she replied. "It is good you have returned. The army is assembled as you have commanded and is ready to move. We can march directly after the council meeting, this very night."  
  
Gyousou chuckled, and looked over at her, not unkindly.   
  
"It has been a long time in coming, it seems."  
  
"Yes!" the general agreed with heartfelt emphasis.  
  
Gyousou regarded her with a long, patient look and seemed like he might have said something but shook his head and clearly decided to broach a different subject   
  
"Our future opponents are economically weakened, and will be weakened further by their incipient loss of leadership, though I doubt very much they will remain so," he said. "However their martial strength is still superior to the numbers we can field by nearly three to one. Added to this, they have the advantage of terrain, and... it is often said that engaging in combat in the north during the winter time is a stupid way to kill off an army."  
  
"I know you will find a way to win this, your majesty," Risai said, conveying her absolute faith in him.   
  
He sighed, looking unusually dubious for him.  
  
"The more I come to see and grasp the situation, the more I come to only be able to hope that you are right."  
  
"Your majesty, you are without doubt the greatest military commander our kingdom has ever produced," Risai protested to his crazy-talk. "If ever there were ever one who would triumph against these odds, it is you."  
  
"General, I hope you do not think me cowardly to say this, but this is a war I am hoping we can win without fighting," Gyousou said.   
  
Risai looked at him in surprise, taken aback. She knew that the enemies numbers were greater than their own, but she never once doubted her soldiers abilities or their eagerness to finally be undertaking their real duties to Tai. She certainly had not expected to hear such words from the mouth of her king, the famous general whose single defeat on record had been more of a victory than a defeat.  
  
"I have read over some of the intelligence reports from the north, the one's concerning why the armies of the four provinces will not fall in line under the Royal Banner."  
  
"Oh. _That_."  
  
Someone, Risai suspected the actual Minister of Summer, if not the Province shuukou themselves, had leaked that the Royal Palace was being administered, not by the rightful king of Tai, but by a mere Royal Consort. Yuka had been still quite young at the time and had not gained her current level of political acumen, so neither she nor Taiki had thought to stop the tale from spreading. In the north the rumor that their kingdom would fall into the hands of not just a mere Royal Consort but a woman (and there had been outright riots when it was discovered the woman was a kaikyaku from the other world) had caused the already tenuous rift to shift into a full break in the kingdom.   
  
In truth, Risai often felt a bit sorry for the young Consort. Up north, her name was spat on and dragged through the mud. She was accused and assumed of taking all sorts of lovers, some of them even hanjuu, while her husband was unable to prevent it. "Whore" was actually one of the _nicer_ terms they used to refer to her. Risai had never once seen a single shred of evidence to support that belief (and if anyone would know, it was the woman in charge of the Consort Bodyguards). By report she had never even once looked too long at a man, and comported herself in all ways like a properly married woman.  
  
 _:Though I have come to strongly suspect that the Royal Consort is in fact... untouched.:_  
  
It seemed like a very, very strange thing to go for so many decades without satisfying the appetite. Risai had had many lovers over the years, since the military life tended to treat sex on the same level of eating or sleeping, an urge that came and went and should be fed when time called for it and not bothered with otherwise.  
  
"They aren't true, your majesty," Risai hastened to reassure him.   
  
It would not do if her king was made a laughingstock by implication that he was a cuckhold.   
  
"Not even her bitterest enemies can accuse her truly," she added. "And they've made every attempt to try it."  
  
There had been one shocking incidence where one fellow actually tried to manufact the evidence of an affair that he could not come by naturally. Yuka had used some sort of strange otherworld detecting techniques involving traces left behind by fingertips and cloth analysis to prove the allegations utterly false.   
  
"I would not have assumed so," Gyousou replied with dignity. "However, having the Royal Consort teamed up with a kirin to run the country seems to have become an enormous bone of contention. I hope I do not sound hopelessly naive when I say that I hope that when the soldiers in the north see the throne properly restored they decide to simply fall peacefully back under my banner once again."  
  
"You think they're going to just raise their arms and surrender?" she said in surprise.  
  
"I can hope," Gyousou said dubiously. "Taiki has urged me to at least give them the chance."  
  
"Will that not interfere with your plans to catch the armies by surprise?"  
  
"Your intelligence reports suggest that it is already too late for that," Gyousou replied. "It was a fragile hope to begin with, and was never really a serious part of my strategy from the start. Neither is this, by the way, but every battle we do not have to engage in leaves us with better resources for the ones we must fight."  
  
"And while you are away fighting, your majesty?" Risai questioned. "Will you leave the court as it was? Will having _that girl_ in place, manipulating everything, not be seen as essentially the same thing?!"  
  
Gyousou looked back at Risai calmly, a single eyebrow raised. She had been shouting there at the end, her true feelings having gotten the better of her.    
  
"I apologize for raising my voice in your presence, my king," Risai said , bowing deeply in apology.   
  
"You do not like her?"  
  
"I am never fully certain I can trust her, your majesty," Risai said with reluctant honesty. "She has given every appearance of being trustworthy, but I have seen her operate and I know that she is sly and cunning. She relies a great deal on deception. Part of me always wonders if she is deceiving me. After all, I thought that Asen was an admirable, upstanding general of Tai and I was pleased to call him a confederate, but then..."  
  
She gestured vaguely to the map.  
  
"It makes me uneasy that she spared his life," Risai added. "I know that Taiki asked her to do it, and that she has to lead in conjunction with him, never able to override his authority as Taiho and it has sometimes been a major setback. Taiki will always plead for mercy... I know all of this, but..."  
  
"You think that she should have requested that you to have him quietly assassinated," Gyousou said shrewdly.  
  
"I would have done it, and gladly!" Risai replied hotly. "I can't imagine a reason why she would not, except maybe she was young at the time, too softhearted, or that she lacked conviction. She refused to head north, and she refused to remove him from the problem. She consistently refuses my advice on military affairs whenever Taiki asks for greater mercy. How can I not help suspecting her when she spends so much time avoiding just taking care of the matter directly?"  
  
"Spoken like a true citizen of Tai," Gyousou said with warm approval. "You and I will never take an indirect route, when a direct one is available. Diplomacy, it is agreed, has its place, and generally that place is right behind a good fight to settle the matter. It is a given then that someone who spends so much time trying to make omlettes without cracking open the eggs would seem suspicious. But, she's a kaikyaku, and I understand that the kingdom she hails from relies entirely upon trade rather than military strength to maintain itself. Given the complexity of the situation and the limited, divided powers of the co-leadership, I think she may have been what the situation required."  
  
"And when the situation requires her no longer," Risai pressed boldly. "Will you remove her?"  
  
"Taiki has given me to understand that it will not be a question," Gyousou replied shortly. "The girl has her own plans to move on when she is no longer necessary to protect Tai and its kirin."  
  
Risai was taken aback, the wind truly taken out of her sails. All of her suspicions seemed so pointless now, since they relied on the girl being grasping and devious enough to make a true bid for power and hold it as long as possible. Now, Risai was left with a disconcerting feeling of abandonment as well as a good deal of insult on her kings behalf.  
  
"What? She's just going to _leave_?" Risai said, feeling a trifle used and offended. "She invokes your name as her husband to stand next to the throne for decades on end and now that you are wakened she decides it's no longer convenient to have a husband and she's just going to abandon you?"  
  
"A moment ago you wanted her gone, now you're offended she will not stay," Gyousou said, sounding amused.  
  
"Leaving under her own power, and so shortly! It's almost as though she's decided you're somehow not good enough for her!" Risai stated, irritated on her kings behalf. "She's been married to you all this time, the least she could do is actually try to be a wife for once."  
  
"We both know that it was a marriage of necessity, and she wasn't marrying me as a person, she married her will to save Taiki and that alone. The lengths she has gone to to honor her bonds should humble us both."  
  
"I'll be humble when she comes to her senses," Risai replied smartly. "You are a fine king, much too good for her. _She_ should be the one who is humbled. She has been doing this and that saying "my husband, my husband" all these years and now when it comes time to act the part she's... she's..."  
  
"Probably a nervous young woman," Gyousou supplied gently.  
  
Risai looked the other way, abruptly guilty. The main speculation among even her bodyguards was that Yuka was indeed a "flower bud," a "winter blossom," a "drifting snowflake." Her battlemaids thought it was sort of cute that, even in her advanced years, the Royal Consort's cheeks pinkened and she quickly changed the subject when the topic of what went on between the winter furs came up.   
  
"And besides that," Risai pressed. "She's a security risk. There isn't anyone, even myself, who knows the ins and outs of the imperial court as she does. If there is a single piece of gossip about the least of the palace staff or administration that she is not aware of then it isn't worth knowing. If she takes this information to another kingdom--"  
  
"It won't do a whole lot of good there," Gyousou replied, unconcerned. "Unless a kingdom is failing and Youma are crawling everywhere, which, sadly we cannot really deny at this point, the affairs and going's on of other royal kingdoms are of little concern to outsiders. I doubt very much that a foreign court will be much interested in the inner workings of Hakkei Palace or of the other province's in Tai."  
  
"Well what about her new gems? She's the only one who knows how the seed-gem was made and she's the only one with the master seed. If she leaves with it, there goes our trade in them."  
  
"Tai is not solely dependent on those new gems," Gyousou pointed out. "We have managed fine for centuries without them, and the supposed income we will bring with them is currently merely speculation."  
  
"Well what about--"  
  
"I'm not going to keep the girl here against her will," Gyousou said firmly, forestalling any further argument with a hand. "She's more than earned her freedom and has every right to it. When she has fulfilled her part in my plans, she will be free to go if she wishes. I owe her that much at least."  
  
Risai said nothing more on the matter since her king had firmly closed the subject, however she could not help thinking privately  
  
 _:It just doesn't seem right. His majesty is **ten** times her worth, she should recognize that fact and not act like her connection with him is such a burden. She should love him as much as all of us in Hakkei Palace do. It's impossible to believe she doesn't feel anything for him at all, especially after she's spent time talking to him. I can't imagine that. It's not **right**.:_


	17. Gutta Cavat Lapidem (a water drop hollows a stone)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A drop of water hollows a stone, not by force but by falling often, is the actual phrase.

_:I begin to see why he is a man respected by both his enemies and his allies,:_ Yuka thought to herself as she walked into her private apartments and closed the japanese-style doors behind her, signalling that she wanted to be alone... though with her and her high-security lifestyle "alone was always a relative term.

Yuka had always privately thought that the unconscious king of Tai couldn't possibly be everything that the people of his court remembered. She'd studied him as far as she was able, trying to get a handle on what he might be like; she'd read up on him, studied the scrolls and observed what changes he had made when he'd taken the throne. She'd also adroitly steered the topic to what Gyousou Saku had been like with several people of the court she trusted would be honest with her on the matter, ally and rival alike. She'd gotten an earful. His allies remembered him as a man of great character, great insight and firm action, whose presence filled the room even when he was the only one in it. Even people who had not necessarily liked him all that well admitted that being in the same room with him was a lot like feasting at the table with a hungry tiger. Yuka was accustomed to kings being more like... Shouryuu, the smarmy and insouciant King of En, and her old schoolmate Youko, who had a more gentle and restrained presence rather than one that took command of a room. The King of Tai, she now saw, was not like either of them.

The Royal En had a lackadaisical nature, as though he never tried hard at anything, his rule remained solid and well-run due to his incredible insight and intelligence. The Royal Kei was characterized by her restraint and even-handedness, she listened carefully to all sides of an argument, took counsel, investigated a matter thoroughly, and then when she felt she had all of the information she needed, consulted her kirin and came to a decision. Hers was a "water rule" (despite all of the allusions to fire in her name) she was placid and gentle until circumstances required she move, then... oh then, she was as implacable as a river in full flood, unyielding and unstoppable until her course was run. For most of the time Youko ruled however, her rule was gentle and she and her kirin both preferred it that way. The Royal Tai however...

_:He's scary!:_ Yuka thought to herself.

It wasn't that he had a threatening demeanor, it was just that... he had a _powerful_ presence. He didn;t go out of his way to display ferocity and she had yet to see even the mildest display of violence from him, his conversations with her so far had been gentle and civil, however... a tiger might deign to grace a hut, but that did not mean that it was not a tiger.

She'd come close to him before and thought that her inability to be comfortable in his presence might just have been her sense of rivalry rearing its head, or even her inexperience with men being closer to her than a respectful distance, but after having to lock gazes with him Yuka now saw that it wasn't just her... the man had an aura about him that occupied the very air in the room, pressing against everything in it like the heat from the sun at midday. It wasn't even a conscious gesture on his part, he just had a natural force of personality, a latent fierce and commanding aura that was like a tiger with its claws sheathed.

_:It's like how C.S. Lewis referred to Aslan, "he'll never be a tame lion":_ Yuka thought.

So far as Yuka was concerned, the lion could go ahead and have his court, and she would have the evening off!  
  
 _:With Taiki's king finally taking his place back on the throne, I don't even have to attend court!:_ Yuka thought, slipping out of the beautiful clothes she had worn to impress the emperor of Han. The outfit was comfortable but she didn't want to get wrinkles in it or chance spilling something on her good clothes, she chose instead a very simple ruqun for her to be comfortable in and lounge around.   
  
For the last fifty years, it had been she and Taiki, sitting on either side of the empty throne, who had lead the court in the absence of Tai's rightful king. They had led the court together, making decisions and trying as best as they could with their limited powers to keep the land peaceful and prosperous. It had been a struggle, one that had sometimes strained the bond of their friendship, but they had seen it through together and Yuka felt their relationship was special for it. But it was all over now.   
  
_:Well, **my** part in it is over with now, anyway,:_ Yuka thought. _:Taiki will still be expected to attend court as Taiho.:_  
  
Even though she was glad that her part in running the patched together political piranha-tank that the Royal Court had been during the time Gyousou Saku had been asleep, part of her couldn't help but worry a little.  
  
: _What if Taiki forgets about me?:_  
  
She was going to be stepping back, probably even leaving for a little while, and his king was finally awake too. Yuka couldn't help but fear that now that he no longer needed her there, she wouldn't be important to him anymore.   
  
_:He has his king to worry about now after all, and I've never been quite as important as he is to Taiki anyway.:_  
  
Yuka knew she was being silly. It was a kirin's nature to adore the one that Heaven had chosen for them. And it wasn't like she was in competition for the number one ranking in Taiki's heart, that position could only belong to his liege anyway so it was silly to worry about it. Still, she couldn't help feeling competitive with someone now. Even if Taiki had been worried about Gyousou while he slept, Yuka had been the one who was by his side, helping him, every day. During that time, she could afford to discount her rival because he was not an active part of Taiki's life. Now that he was awake, Yuka felt very much supplanted.  
  
 _:He's not even awake for a week, and he's already making Taiki worry!:_ Yuka thought about the new king.   
  
So far, she failed to be impressed. Then again, that was mostly because she was partly _looking_ to find fault with her rival. It was a little petty, but sometimes in personal matters Yuka could be just a little petty. Despite her relief at having him wake up so that he could take up the burden of state again, she was actively looking for reason's to dislike him. She was a little bit jealous that, despite her long relationship with Taiki, that man would always rank higher in her dear friend's heart.   
  
_:If he makes Taiki cry, I won't forgive him!:_ Yuka promised herself. _:And he had better be the best ruler this world has ever seen, too. I didn't work my ass off for decades to hand everything over to some useless slacker!:_   
  
She had no cause for complaints yet, but that didn't mean that she thought he was the paragon of virtue that everyone else thought he was. She would step into the background and see how he did (not that she had much choice in the matter).   
  
_:Yeah sure, I **say** things like that but...:_ she trailed off.  
  
Even in her own thoughts, she found herself unusually unsettled. In all matters, Yuka was accustomed to knowing what she wanted and then pursuing that thing unreservedly. She was accustomed to being decisive and unhesitating and one-hundred percent certain of herself (even when she was wrong). She had had her own innate ruthlessness pointed out to her at a young age so she knew to be wary of it. Her innate ruthless ambition served her well in the cutthroat politics of the current court but she never allowed herself to forget that it was a blade that could far more easily slice open her own throat.   
  
_:Which is precisely why I must firmly step aside right now,:_ she told herself.  
  
Yuka very much wanted to attend the court that evening. She wanted to be sitting there in her usual spot beside and to the fore of the dais where the throne usually sat unoccupied, and she wanted to be able to see the looks on the faces of the Shuukou and ministers who had troubled her for so long when those pearl blinds were raised all the way for the first time in fifty years and the real king sat down on the throne.  
  
 _:I know it's petty, but I **really** want to see the looks on their faces!:_ Yuka thought with relishing amusement.  
  
But it was because she knew she could sometimes be petty and a little ruthless that Yuka felt it was best she step aside firmly right then. She had done what she said she'd do, she had helped Taiki hold the throne together until his king could climb back on it. Her part was done, if she lingered any longer beyond what she had said she would do, then the ministers and officials would have cause to be able to call her grasping and power-hungry.   
  
_:And aside of all of that... there's still one other thing.:_  
  
In the grand scheme of things it truly was a trifle. It was something that most people would be surprised to hear her worry about, but Yuka was who she was, and she couldn't really help it, so it seemed to her that it would be best to avoid the matter entirely.  
  
She didn't want to lower her head to the floor.  
  
 _:I know it's stupid!:_ Yuka thought to herself, a little embarrassed. _:But I can't help it.:_   
  
She'd been able to avoid having to touch her head to the floor because she and Taiki had been the two most powerful figures in the room, people had bowed to them and not the other way around. If she went down to the court she would naturally be expected to lower her head to the nation's king. Yuka was too uncomfortable with the idea for a lot of reasons. It felt unnatural to her. In the culture of her times, one only lowered their head all the way when they'd done something unforgivable. Plus... She had lowered herself that way once to a kingdom's ruler. She had bowed down to the king of Kou, believing in him, and he had fed her lies. Yuka never wanted to find herself like that again, it was still a small wound that hurt her. She intended to avoid all official functions until she could leave.   
  
To that end, Yuka, for the first time in a long time, dressed herself in comfortable lounging clothes instead of garments for show, and prepared herself for a quiet evening spent within her quarters. She might at last get to read a good book, instead of reviewing documents for the running of the kingdom.   
  
She had just settled in on a comfortable chaise in her sitting room, one of her favorite books in her hand and a pot of tea at her elbow, when there came a firm knock at the door to her apartments. Yuka was disinclined to receive guests, but the soft rattle of her door being opened and that fact that her room maid was bowed all the way down with her forehead touching the floor said that her visitor was not someone who could be ignored even with the instructions that Yuka not be disturbed.  
  
"Taiki says that you will not come with us to court," a voice that was becoming more familiar to her the longer she heard it said from the entrance to her private sitting room. Completely unexpectedly, her stomach did some sort of strange squirming, fluttery thing at the sound of his voice, and Yuka frowned in puzzlement.  
  
"As you see," Yuka said, holding up her book. "I'm afraid I have plans for the evening."  
  
"That's surprising," he replied. "I would have thought you would want to be there to see it all for yourself. Your enemies are due to be humbled."  
  
"All things considered, I don't think that would be wise. After all, they do make a habit of saying I'm only interested in power. If I show my face there while you're on the throne they'll have more ammunition."  
  
"Without your presence while I chastise them my attempt to teach them humility will be incomplete," he replied. "They won't reflect properly. And besides that, if you disappear from court now, it will only cause a rumor to spread that _you_ are the one being punished. I am sure you grasp that your opponents would be quick to start such a rumor, and it would be ungracious of me to allow such a thing after all you've done."  
  
"I... That is..." Yuka said uncomfortably.  
  
He did have a point but Yuka couldn't bring herself to state her real objection to going down to court with him and Taiki. She was deeply discomfited with the thought of the full bow that would be expected of her but she felt it would be out of place for her to say so. She had not bowed down like that since the whole mess with the former ruler of Kou fifty years ago when she'd been a little girl but it still stung even in the present. It seemed that Taiki's king was as discerning as he was reported to be, for he seemed to sense her discomfort immediately. He sat down on the edge of her chaise, bringing him closer to her than any man had been allowed to be within five decades. Yuka froze up. That close to her she could _feel_ his presence near her, as strong as sunlight against her skin.  
  
"Tell me the real matter," he said softly.   
  
It was a request, but it carried the weight of a soft command. Yuka found herself too embarrassed to look at at him. He waited patiently. She suddenly felt more like she was a shy, awkward fifteen year old again, and not a polished politician of fifty years. The sight of her teacup gave her an excuse to retreat behind manners and Yuka grasped it, much the same way a drowning person might grab for driftwood.  
  
"Would you like some tea? I have a blend sent from Hou!"  
  
The calm, unwavering regard of his deep crimson eyes was like an almost physical weight on her, but she forced herself to maintain her calm. He nodded, even as he continued looking at her, and Yuka was able to steady her suddenly agitated nerves with the calming activity of pouring tea.  
  
"This is a strange tea," he remarked on tasting it. "It is... oddly flavored, and the wrong color."  
  
It was red rather than any varied shade of brown or even green. And instead of tasting like any of the usal varieties of tea, whether earthy or spicy or the sharp-pine taste of some of the northern blends, this one tasted both spicy, strong and almost tangy.   
  
"Normally tea leaves require a sub-tropical environment to grow in, and Hou is as far north as we are, but the new queen grows a variety of the tea-plant that is capable of growing in the lower valleys down in Hou. The leaf when it is fresh, I understand has a slightly astringent taste to it, possibly due to the acidic soil. The treatment, the rolling and oxidizing they do to it before they ship it gives it that mildly roasted flavor."  
  
"You sound knowledgeable," he remarked.   
  
"Hou-ou and I have exchanged letters discussing tea. It is something we've found in common," Yuka smiled a little, a tiny genuine dimple appearing.   
  
She had cultivated an unofficial sort of connection with the eccentric, regnant queen of Hou. She was such a strange one and so funny. It was almost as amusing to exchange letters with her as it was to send seichou to Youko.  
  
"When I first came here," she admitted. "The only tea I had had was the prepackaged stuff. I acquired a taste for it, mainly because I'm a terrible lightweight..."  
  
"You are surprisingly small," he agreed.   
  
"I meant that I have no tolerance for alcohol," Yuka corrected him. "Since I couldn't risk getting tipsy in a court that was already looking for ways to rip me apart, I had to default to some other drink. I somehow wound up with a taste for tea, which, when I lived back in the other world I had never really drank much of."  
  
"So, now that we have exchanged pleasantries, will you tell me what is the matter?" Gyousou pressed.   
  
Yuka spared herself a moment by taking a sip of tea, trying to think of something else to say. The king held her with that weighty regard he had for a long moment, then gave a little smile.  
  
"You and Taiki are really alike in some ways," he said softly. "With him, I can always tell when something is bothering him, and have a good way to be able to either guess what it is or coax it out of him."  
  
"You know he doesn't like you to worry about him," Yuka replied.   
  
"Yes, which makes me worry, causing him to worry even more. Thus it has been determined that it's always best to simply have it out in the open. With you, I have no way of guessing what might be on your mind."  
  
"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Yuka replied.   
  
Gyousou looked back at her evenly, his silence speaking for him. Yuka found that she couldn't quite look up at him, which was unheard of for her. She'd never before met a person whom she could not meet the eyes of, but there was something about him, some kind of special gravity he had that made the air around him feel heavy and her chest squeeze in on itself. Yuka could only theorize that she must be somehow allergic to him.  
  
"Do you dislike me?" he questioned gently after Yuka maintained her silence.   
  
"That's--! That isn't it..." she said.   
  
She was stammering every bit as bad as Taiki did, when there was something bothering him that he couldn't bring himself to say.  
  
"You are in a very great hurry to leave," he pointed out.  
  
"That's not why I won't go to court with you," Yuka said. "And why do you care so much anyway?"  
  
She had learned that in politics, a good offense could be the best defense.  
  
"You are a singularly important person in my kirin's life and I personally owe you an enormous debt. If there is anything I have said or done that bothers you, I want to know so I can make reparations."  
  
"It's nothing... It has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with me," Yuka replied reluctantly.   
  
Gyousou again waited patiently. Yuka, for the first time in a very, very long time found herself caving in.  
  
"I have a bit of a hard time talking about it, even after so long a time, but back when I came to this world the first time I wound up... working," she said hesitantly. "For the previous king of Kou. He seemed like a respectable king, even if the sorts of things he told me and that he had me training to do were... not exactly..."  
  
Yuka trailed off, still bothered to this day by the person she had allowed herself to become back then. Even after all she'd accomplished and all the time that passed, she was still deeply ashamed and mortified by it.  
  
"Anyway. Back then, I lowered my head to him, believing that, even if I didn't quite agree with the methods, that the ends he was employing me for would be virtuous ones. They were not. I... cannot.... I simply can't bring myself to lower my head like that ever again. In addition... In the world and time I come from, you only bow over like that when you're abasing yourself to deeply ask forgiveness when you've done something so unpardonable that there is no other way to show your abject humility. I've done some things in my life I'm not proud of, but none of them have been after I started working with Taiki. I don't feel that I have done anything to Tai that I need to apologize for."  
  
"Ah," Gyousou said. "Is that what this is all about?"  
  
"That, and I really want an evening off," Yuka replied, looking hopefully at her book.  
  
She'd had the volume for months and hadn't made it much beyond the third chapter!  
  
"I am not so without confidence as a man or a king that I require every forehead around me to touch the floor," he said kindly. "As long as you bow respectfully, there is no need for you to make yourself uncomfortable. You should hurry and change for Court, or you will miss the event."  
  
"What about my book?" Yuka asked plaintively.   
  
"It will still be here when you return," he replied firmly.   
  
Yuka looked at him sharply, suddenly suspicious. He seemed awfully insistent that she attend court with him. Her politicians instincts told her that he had some sort of plan he wanted her involved in and if he attacked publicly, then she would not easily be able to countermand him without losing face.  
  
"Waait a minute," she said, grasping a hand around he elbow to hold him in place as he moved to rise. "What are you planning, and what do I have to do with it?"  
  
Gyousou contrived to look innocent, but now that Yuka was actively engaged, he couldn't fool her. She'd been around court too long and though Gyousou's face was stern, he was no politician and his innate honesty made it relatively easy to read him.  
  
"Spill it!" she commanded after he hesitated. The king looked amused by her asperity and said  
  
"I have half a kingdom to reconquer, and you must know that in that time I will have to leave Hakkei Palace. Usually under these circumstances, the Taiho is left to manage affairs of state in the absence of the king, however you and I both know that the royal court is not in any shape to be overseen by a kirin."  
  
"Yeah, they'll walk all over him, sweet boy that he is," Yuka agreed resignedly.   
  
"Which is why I must reluctantly ask you to remain in place for a little longer, at least until I can bring the northern province's back under my banner."  
  
"You were going to ambush me!" Yuka accused.   
  
"Say instead that I was conscripting the aid of a most loyal citizen," was his reply.  
  
" _Who's_ a loyal citizen?! I'm only here for Taiki!" she retorted hotly.   
  
"Which is why you should remain here for a little while longer," Gyousou pointed out. "If you leave and I leave, he will be essentially alone. You wouldn't want that. I certainly don't."  
  
"You're far too used to having things your own way, you tyrant," Yuka shot back.   
  
She took him by the elbow and pushed him toward the door. When she reached it, she shoved him across the threshold and snapped the shoji shut in his face, leaving him on the other side. She heard his question through the paper screen.  
  
"You are coming, are you not?"  
  
"We'll see!" Yuka replied smartly.  
  
 _:He's too used to having things his own way, he should have to worry about it for a little bit. The nerve! He wasn't even going to ask me!:_  
  
"You would truly disobey a command from your king?" he said, sounding like he couldn't quite believe it.  
  
"Consider this my way of rebuking you, and repent on it!" Yuka snapped back.  
  
Abruptly, he started to laugh. Even through the wood it was a warm rich sound that did funny things to the backs of her knees.   
  
"I shall reflect on my actions then," he promised her, sounding more amused than sorry.  
  
"Darn right you will," she muttered to herself then went back to her book. Sadly, by the time she got there, her tea was tepid.


	18. Quos Amor Verus Tenuit Tenebit  (Those whom true love has held, it will go on holding)

The king walked back across the garden that separated his own quarters from the apartments shared by his kirin and the Royal Consort. It was a first for him, certainly; he had just been tossed out of a woman's quarters by the woman in question, and to add admonishment to injury, was then told in no uncertain terms that he was too high-handed to be tolerated and he needed to go and reflect on himself. His innate honesty reminded him that he had indeed planned to ambush her, so there was some justification to her admonishment from her standpoint.  
  
 _:It isn't as though I like this situation either...:_ Gyousou thought, a little irritated.   
  
It irked him on a deep, personal level that he had to rely on a stranger with no real loyalty to Tai for aid in restoring peace to his kingdom. He was actually in agreement with her sentiment; she had done her part and should be allowed her rest. It was _his_ job to step up and take command of the throne of Tai.  
  
 _:But with a nation so divided, I cannot risk leaving the court in disarray without the necessary strong leadership required to keep it together until I can finish pacifying the countryside,:_ he thought, still irritated by the necessity of it.   
  
_:The fact that I dislike having to rely on her help is probably one reason why I was so high-handed with her just now,:_ he thought with a small sigh.  
  
He had underestimated how canny and perceptive she was. Despite the many fine examples of strong women in his rule, he had developed the bad habit of judging most women he met  by the standard of his late wife, Isana, and in many cases, that led to his underestimating them.His beautiful wife of such breif but happy years had been a woman of talent and discernment, more inclined to sweetness of temper than strength of tenacity.

He stepped in through one of the side entrances to Seiden Palace and then into his office where a small portrait of his late wife still hung near his desk. He examined it again and shook his head. He had thought at the time that the artist had captured her well, the soft curve of her cheek, the pale shine of her hair, the somewhat sleepy gaze, as if she alway existed half in and half out of this world, viewing it now he wondered if the artist had truly captured her. Had she always been so pale, or was it just the way the artist had rendered her?  
  
 _:But as I recall, my beloved Isana was not a lady of vitality...:_ Gyousou thought reluctantly.   
  
He felt like a traitor to her memory for even thinking it, but he knew deep down in his heart that if Isana had remained alive and then had become Royal Consort on his ascension to the throne, there was no way that Tai would have survived. She had been a good, warm and elegant woman but...   
  
Gyousou remembered fondly her sweetness, her gentleness and her giving softness. She had been almost as soft hearted as a kirin. He had never heard a harsh word or a cross look from her. Her softness had always seemed to round out his sharp edges. When she had been in the room he knew that people had not found him to be so intimidating as they generally did, for her innate goodness put people at ease. Their marriage had been a harmonious one. There were those who said she often yielded to him too much, and in many ways he could not deny that, but her own softness had only increased his devotion to her. The only thing that had marred those days had been the fact that, as a General, he had been called away from her side so much. In that case, Isana had lacked the resignation to be a soldiers wife; she had always begged him not to leave her. Even now it was hard to recall how she had tearfully asked him to stay and take care of her, to protect her instead of Tai. To this day, he felt guilty that he had not been able to be there when she needed him.  
  
 _:And Taiki. I was away when he needed me too. It sometime seems that all I do to protect those I love just ends up making them more vulnerable.:_  
  
That was part of the reason why keeping the girl in place for a little longer seemed suddenly important to him. There was no denying that he had to march north, there was also no denying that the royal court still had its share of traitors and enemies. He could not leave Taiki in such a vulnerable position, not again. Yuka didn't _look_ like much all told; she was small, and slight but that woman had held the throne together against near-impossible odds and almost insurmountable difficulties... surely a few months more, backed by the very real threat of official reprisal should any in the court offer her harm, would be no great difficulty for her.   
  
_:She may even **like** it,:_ Gyousou thought with a small wince.   
  
She had not wanted to bow her head to anyone, not even him, and at the time it seemed like a small concession to make, so he had granted it, and then she'd still rebuked him for not asking her first.  
  
 _:But most likely she views them as two separate issues,:_ he admitted. _:Which in essence I suppose they are. It seems that Lady Yuka is not someone who can be judged by the same standards as my former wife Isana.:_  
  
They were apples and pomegranates. Yes, both of them were fruit, but so different were their natures that there their similarities ended. Isana had been of a soft and yielding femininity, Yuka only gave off the _appearance_ of being soft, but was truly as unbending as a sword of finest steel beneath that act of sweet femininity she used to lure the unsuspecting off their guard. It seemed strange and slightly treasonous to compare the two women, even in the privacy of his own thoughts. He had thought that for all the rest of his life he would never find another woman to compare to his wife's memory in his heart.   
  
He had just met the girl a few days ago and already she'd found ways to get under his skin, and it irritated him even more that she didn't seem to care in the least that she was there at all. She conversed politely enough with him, helped out where she felt she was needed, but made it abundantly clear that she had no intention of sticking around once her duty to help Taiki was done. He had even been privately in agreement (just a little) with Risai's indignant reaction over the fact that the Royal Consort had plans to abandon her post at the very earliest opportunity.

:I can't truly blame her, she's worked hard. At the same time... it stings,: he admitted to himself.  
  
The office was too small for pacing so he removed himself from it to the room down the hall a little. The old king had used it for entertainment, which he had done a great deal of. It was large enough to support a full complement of musicians, there was a wide space for formal dance all to the fore of a long table. Gyousou had not found much in the way of real use for the room so when he had taken the throne it was one of the ones he had ordered closed off. When he turned to step into it, he paused at the threshold, frozen in surprise.  
  
:This palace had remained untouched and unchanged for many centuries, I sleep for a few decades and they change everything!: he marveled to himself at the sight that greeted him.   
  
The room that now greeted him had been made to look like a deep forest grotto had formed somehow in the depths of a cave. The ceiling had been made to look like it was frmed of natural rock with holes in it to let the light shine in (to keep the plants alive). The sunlight filtered through the weeping trees that drooped their leafy branches into a series of small pools with lotus flowers covering much of the surface. Interspersed through the artistically grown and arranged gardens were small galeries of artwork, paintings and drawings that seemed to grow organically out of the miniature indoor wilderness.

_:The old kings gaudy monstrosities in the pavilions would have cost a hundred times more to build and were not half so lovely to look at,:_ Gyousou thought to himself.   
  
His gaze was caught by a painting that looked so real, so life-like it was almost like looking through a window. It was a picture of the wide front steps of the palace, (he could tell it was that place in particular because the slanted middle pannels with it's bas-relif dragons carved out of the marble and inlaid in gold and precious gems was depicted in startling detail in the background). Soft daylight shone down on the scene, picking out the colors of clothes and jewels and making the people depicted in the frame seem to glow with inner luminance. In it, the girl was dressed in the finest multi-layered daxiushan. The zhongyi, or under-robe, was sleeveless sort that was tied under the breasts with a narrow gold ribbon. The  skirt was unusual in that the color in it lightened from pale white-gold at "collar," which was a band just above her breasts to dark bronze at the bottom hem, as though it had soaked up water. The shenyi she wore over it was a sheer white-gold color with gold embroidery. She wore minimal jewelry besides a small ceremonial head-peice and hairpins that glinted in the light and a polite smile on her face that was as serene as a depiction of the the Seioubo. She was bowing as if she were a demure housewife welcoming a visitor to her home. The foreground showed the backs of four province lords wearing full armor, presumably having brought their armies with them. In the background further up the steps was a feasting table arrayed with four places. He had heard the scene mentioned briefly in a report earlier. The picture of it said _far_ more.   
  
_:It must have taken such strength, to treat ones enemies as though they were conferring a favor by their visit, to trust in ones patience and intelligence and endure it because there are no other options open until you make an opportunity for yourself.:_ he thought, gazing at this scene from the history he had missed while sleeping, and wondering to himself what it must have been like to be part of it.  
  
Gyousou would have met them with a sword, rather than a smile, but he was accustomed to leading armies. Taiki had depicted very clearly that armies were not something that they'd had at the time. To handle an insurrection like this took a will that would put swords to shame.  
  
:The appearance of softness, but not soft at all, unless one counts the fact that she let Asen live.:  
  
The picture beside it was a rougher charcoal drawing of those same four lords and the Lady Yuka later. Three of them were dead on the floor and the artist had chosen to capture her mid-kill-strike on the last.  
  
Gyousou paced around a bit more, looking at the other pictures hung in the gallery. Many of them were of him and it wasn't until he saw a portrait of himself done on mt Hou shortly before he ascended the throne that he realized that the painter must be Taiki.   
  
"Truly, he is a wonderful kirin," Gyousou mused as he examined the incredible detail on one of the paintings more closely. "I have never heard of any other kingdom's kirin being so talented."  
  
And he had tamed a toutetsu as well. If any kirin would have been able to hold the throne together, it was the legendary koki, the black kirin. However, Taiki's great strength and talent was weighted by his lack of confidence in himself and his propensity for caring too deeply what others thought about him. Isana had had much the same difficulties, she had been so devoted to others around her that she always put their opinions above her own. Her softness and empathy had been part of her appeal, but Gyousou had often had to help her out of near-crippling bouts of depression. With her frail beauty and fragile strength, Isana had come to embody everything he desired to be strong enough to protect.   
  
_:Instead I let her down, just as I let Taiki down, and everyone,:_ he thought. His emotions were bordering on uncharacteristic moroseness for him, but seeing a moment of all that he had missed captured in almost living clarity for him had served to truly bring to his attention just how very much he had _missed_ in the time he'd been bound in slumber. Fifty years and a kingdom had all but moved on without him, it seemed.  
  
He wasn't even certain he could ever be able to make up for his failures. Even if he had fought him then, Gyousou had _still_ allowed a man like Asen to ruin his kingdom. He had failed in that, just as he had failed to protect Taiki and his wife.   
  
He had loved her dearly, and he knew that she had loved him, but he now wondered if their love would have been enough to make it through his being chosen to be king. She had been a truly wonderful and giving woman, but there was no doubt that she had been frail. Her fragility could not have withstood the pressures that being Royal Consort would have put on her. The mess that Asen had left would have shattered her, for she had relied greatly on his strength to help her endure; if Gyousou had not been there for her there would have been nothing left to wake up to.   
  
He looked down again at the two pictures of how the Lady Yuka had handled four troublesome warlords walking into her castle and refusing to leave. Isana would have hidden herself in her room. Certainly she would have lacked the strength to rule beside Taiki, to prop up the throne until the day her husband could reawaken. The fact that he knew this, simply saddened him further. It was bad enough that Yuka was necessary at all, it was even _worse,_ in his mind, that she was precisely the Royal Consort that Tai had needed, instead of the giving tenderness of his former beloved.  
  
 _:In a different time and a different place, Isana would have been the model of a Royal Consort, held up to all as a fine example of what a woman should be. But I suppose, in her own way, the Lady Yuka is as fine an example as Isana might have been.:_  
  
She was more along the lines of a strong right arm, but right then, she was what was needed. Gyousou would heal this kingdom and redeem himself. He would allow no other outcome save that one. Until that day, he would use whatever tools or weapons came to hand, however reluctant they might be.  
  
  



	19. Ad Utrumque Paratus 	(prepared for either [alternative])

Zui was smack in the middle of the four rebellious provinces, what amazed him was that the four of them didn't just decide to  take it over.  
  
 _:Whatever else their faults, they at least have sense enough to see the impossibility of **that** much,:_ Gyousou thought as he reviewed his opening stratagems.

It wasn't so much that Zui province would have been impossible to take over, because it _was_ significantly smaller than any of the other four provinces surrounding it, it was that there was already a shuukou for that province and the other provincial officials had already seen what happened to those who tried to infringe on the authority of the capitol.  
  
Since Ie Province and Ba Provine were both on the western coast line, Gyousou had decided to make his opening play there by using the ships to transport troops and supplies from the port city of Nanting in the south of Ran province. It was further south than he would have liked, but the superior transport facilities in Ran Province would make up for whatever time lag there would have ordinarily been over land.  
  
His strategy was a bit risky, as he planned to actually split his army somewhat. Zui Province, where the capitol was, was actually right next to Ba province. There was a transport road that led through the mountains from Kouki to the two trade cities in Ba province Chienlen and Tungjou. That road was guarded at a narrow mountain pass by a well fortified structure called Fort Setsuhoka (Proudsnow Fortress). That was the fortification that Risai had just received intelligence on. Her agents (and Gyousou could only admire on the efficiency of Tai's information and internal spy network, that intelligence updates were received nearly hourly for different sources!) that its usual patrol barracks armed strength had increased from a Blue Unit to a White Unit over the last week with Ba Province sending in four times the usual reinforcements. The Yellow Unit that usually guarded the lowlands farther to the west  had been deployed to shore up the defenses on the mountain pass. Asen expected Gyousou to attack, this much was and would be a given if he had received even the slightest hint the Tai's true king had woken from his slumber, and the positioning of the troops suggested that Asen expected Gyousou to move his troops through that pass and take Setsuhoka first.  
  
 _:Normally in winter time, that pass would be the only way I could march my troops over the border and retake the province, but there are now ships that can move, at least somewhat, through the heretofore impenetrable frozen rind around the shorelines of the north in winter.:_  
  
Granted, the ships with the special reinforced hulls were not damaged as easily by the large chunks of ice that formed along the coast in wintertime, but even they couldn't go _all_ the way north up into the frozen solid sheet called the Iceflow at the top of Tai, the ice there was simply too thick.  
  
 _:But Ba Province is farther south than Ie province is, and the ice-rind around that part of the kingdom is not frozen solid in a sheet. For half a mile out to sea.:_  
  
Meaning that he'd be able to maneuver the ships carrying troops and supplies around the ice-forms off the coast of Ba Province. What he planned to do was what any good military strategist did. Play to his enemies expectations. He had assembled the armies in the north of Zui province with the seeming intent of marching them through the road to Tungjou via the fortified pass at Setsuhoka. This had, of course, caused the enemy generals to move their troops to stop him there at the bottleneck where they had the advantage of terrain. He wanted them all stuck there at the bottleneck between Zui and Ba and to that end he planned to send a portion of his troops under General Risai to keep them entertained. Once he took Kaitou Fortress the lowlands would be a relatively clean sweep according to recent intelligence reports, Asen had ordered any extra troops to man the fortresses along the mountain borders of Zui Province. Gyousou intended to take his troops, sweep west to east through the lowlands to the Provincial Captitol, put a shuukou of his own choosing in place with a small and loyal peacekeeping force, and move on to catch Setsuhoka Fortress in a pincer with his troops and Risai's Units.  
  
 _:With the exception of the north-south range on the eastern border that leads into Zui Province Ba Province is moslty flat. If we march quickly, we should be able to overtake the lowlands. The winters there are not as bad, though "bad winters" are always relative in Tai.:_  
  
That left Ie and Bun Provinces. Ie was in the very north and westmost corner of Tai and was not well settled unless one counted goats. Bun Province also was lightly populated but saw probably about three quarters of Tai's gemtrade. Bun Province had a low population density mainly because thiers was broken terrain, difficult to make settlements of any size on and just as difficult to march an army over. Added to that was the fact that the northern reaches had been slowly and steadily emptying out of most of the civilian population over the last few decades. If battles were to be fought, at lest there wasn't a whole lot now to get in the way of them. Gyousou very much hoped that when he had finished with settling Ba and Ie, Bun and Jou would decide to lay down arms and accept his rule again. If the tale had not yet faded from memory he still had a good rapport with Bun, he knew that they would remember their king.  
  
 _:Again, this is the_ north _we're talking about,:_ Gyousou reminded himself humorously. _:The only thing northerners **are** is stubborn.:_  
  
One had to be stubborn in order to live in a place like the northern reaches where it was rocky terrain, hard soil, hard land and bitter winters. There was a well-known proverb about the northern reaches "The only thing that come out of the Reaches are sheep, swords and soldiers." Yes the people of the reaches were stubborn, independent and clannish, Gyousou knew they'd be disinclined to listen to any ruler from the capitol, each little county lord considered himself king of his own little clan.  
  
 _:And they also love to fight.:_  
  
  The Northern Reaches was where the men of Tai had gained their reputation for loving to fight. A reputation that had traveled all the way to the sages of Mt. Hou. Gyousou often thought that whatever authority in Heaven had decided to call the ruler of Tai the "Peace-King" had to have been being ironic, for even under the reign of a good, king Tai was never truly at peace.  
  
He took one last long look at his strategy table and sighed, for he knew that it was one thing to make plans, and another to deal with the contingencies. This particular idea of his might not last much past the west-to-east sweep, but at least it would get his people in place. Keeping them supplied in the middle of winter would be another matter. He had spoken with Risai on the matter but she had said that the skyways were things that required not only a lot in the way of particular raw materials, but also a whole bevy of land-surveyors and engineers and "technicians" (whatever that was, some sort of specialist perhaps?) as well as the builders themselves. It was built cautiously and with a great deal of double-checking and math and discussion of environmental factors. It was not something that was simply thrown up overnight for convenience.  
  
 _:Which is a pity,:_ Gyousou thought. _:An army marches on its stomach, if I had a more reliable way to get supplies delivered in enemy territory we could march much farther. Ah, well, it is what it is.:_  
  
As not only a general but as the king of Tai, he would make the best of things. This ship was not going down on his watch.

_:The Imperial Court will be convened in mere hours, I suppose I should check to see that my Kouri is not fretting himself to pieces.:_  
  
Already dressed in the formal black imperial robes, he walked across the garden that separated Seiden Palace from Meiden Palace to go and see Taiki. When he entered the place where his kirin supposedly resided it seemed uninhabited, until he heard the echoes of giggling down the hall. Curious, he followed the sound.  
  
In his defense, the screen partition that separated Taiki's quarters from the quarters that his young Royal Consort occupied was wide open (probably to make room for the flock of maids rushing about the chambers) so he rather thought that the dismayed screech was justified but the brush that was thrown at his head was a little uncalled for. After all, he did quickly apologize.  
  
"I am here to see my kirin," he explained after he ducked safely behind the frame of the doorway.  
  
The girl was placed on a stool in the middle of the room, like a statue on a pedestal, while her maids bustled around her. There were two putting up her hair, one to brush it and the other to hold the tray of hair ornaments. There were no less than seven maids holding out different outfits in different colors, there were two more playing in the jewelry box and another two in charge of ribbons. The proposed "doll" in all of the middle of this _should_ have been the one directing the chaos, but no, like a usurper standing in the curtain behind the throne, _Taiki_ was the one picking through her clothing, debating cut and colors and Tentei only knew what with the giggling maids.  
  
"It's all clear now, Gyousou-sama," Taiki called a minute later. "We've taken away everything she can throw at you... Yuka! The jade-pendant is not a bolo and Gyousou-sama does not need his skull indented for him!"  
  
"Was he raised in a barn?!" Yuka snapped back.  
  
"You cannot speak of your husband thus milady!" one of the room maids protested, but it sounded more like she thought the whole thing was funny.  
  
"It's like his mama didn't raise him right! Walking into a girl's chambers without knocking! No manners!"  
  
"Now, now," he heard Taiki soothe.  
  
"Why are you here, Taiki?" Gyousou asked curiously, not quite daring to show himself around the edge of the screen.  
  
The kirin came over a moment later, already dressed in his most formal court zhishen, and smiled at his king, delighted as ever to be in his presence. Gyousou too was warmed by his kirin's affection. He had met the previous Tairen when the previous king had met with his generals from time to time on matters of military. She had reminded him of his then-wife Isana in some ways; she had had a poise and dignity to her that were a little more in keeping with the position of Taiho but she often seemed a little severe for a kirin. He had heard rumors that Kyou-ou's Tairen had lectured her king many times on his expenditures, but that could only have been rumor.  
  
"Yuka picked out something too plain for our big night, so I thought I'd come over and help her choose something better," Taiki said candidly. "It's a big occasion after all."  
  
"I see," Gyoousou said, in amusement.  
  
His kirin was treating the Consort like she was his own personal life-sized dress-up doll. It sort of made him think better of her that she was clearly letting Taiki do whatever he wanted.  
  
"It's good to see you having fun," he said with a smile.  
  
"Do you really have to go so soon Gyousou-sama?" Taiki asked.  
  
"I know you just got me back and it saddens me to part with you so soon as well Taiki," Gyousou said gently. "But I cannot let this divide in our kingdom languish any longer than it already has. I must go soon, but I can say that I will do my utmost to return quickly, and victorious!"  
  
"If anyone can do it, you can Gyousou-sama!" taiki said, clearly trying to be brave for his sake.  
  
He could see the lingering sadness in his kirins eyes... until his kirin's eyes fell upon the bixi that Gyousou had chosen to wear over the qun. He hadn't really paid much attention to color, simply grabbed the nearest he'd found.  
  
"Oh!" Taiki said as he looked at it more closely. "This will never do. It doesn't match anything!"  
  
Taiki grabbed his king by the crook of the arm and pulled him along with him into his young wife's dressing chamber. Mindful of what had happened the last time, Gyousou ducked by reflex. When he looked up however, the maids had covered her in a thick temporary wrap robe preparatory to dressing her up. Yuka did little more than send a glare in his direction.  
  
Gyousou looked around at the milling chaos of her dressing suite, expecting to see an explosion of silks and satins and all sorts of fine clothing everywhere, instead he saw only eight fine Hanfuu and a few others that were less fine. Some of them weren't even silk, but were of a thinly woven "cotton-silk" that was a great deal cheaper than the real thing.  
  
 _:Well, despite her claims to love fashion, at least it seems she hasn't been spending the palace budget on new clothing,:_ Gyousou thought.  
  
The previous king had had the poor Minister of Heaven in agonies of despair on some years. Kyou-ou had thought that fashion was an art form as much as any other medium he'd indulged himself in, and he'd had an entire harem of beauties to dress up. And they couldn't all get the usual two suits a year like the rest of the palace staff, oh _no_ , those ladies had to be kept current in the latest mode. What one courtesan had spent on dresses in a month would have fed an entire village for a year! Gyousou was quite relieved to see that the Royal Consort could manage to dress to her station without extravagant spending.  
  
"Bring out the violet one, Lin," Taiki called. "We could match it with the dove grey shenyi."  
  
"It is lovely Taiho," Lin said holding up a purple long-sleeved shenyi, the kind with a larger right hem on the bottom that was wrapped twice around the body to create a diagonal-line hem revealing the underskirt. The wide belt was grey silk with light purple satin wave patterns embroidered on it.  
  
"But are you certain it's appropriate for the occasion? I mean, it _is_ a little plain..." Lin pursued.  
  
Taiki nodded in agreement, while Yuka, clearly bored, rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, looking put-upon. She was clearly getting a little tired of playing Taiki's dress-up doll. To forestall a complaint, a nearby servant poured her a cup of tea. It was clear that they were past masters at handling their mistress.  
  
"Taiki, you've been at this _forever_. My closet is empty. Just _pick_ one!" Yuka said exasperatedly.  
  
"But none of them are pretty enough," Taiki mumbled. "We should have kept that one I made for greeting the warlords all those years ago instead of having it remade. Twice."  
  
He looked injured about it, clearly it was a long-running complaint between the two fo them.  
  
"It's been fifty years, it would be eaten by moths by now," Yuka pointed out with exaggerated patience. "What about the blue one, you love blue!"  
  
"You just wore the blue one," he said. "Besides, it doesn't match."  
  
Yuka's eyes lit on Gyousou, clearly out of desperation. He almost had to resist the urge to back out and beat a hasty retreat. The only reason he didn't was that Taiki had his bixi and qun and was currently holding them up to the different ensembles around the room.  
  
"Why don't we ask your king which one he likes," Yuka suggested.  
  
She clearly wasn't making the suggestion because she cared for his opinion or preferences, she just wanted a decision made so that they could all get on with it.  
  
"You've seen his closet," Taiki said absently as he compared swatches.  
  
Gyousou raised his eyebrows, that was the closest he had ever heard Taiki come to criticizing him! He was almost proud of the boy. Yuka heaved another sigh, but, he noticed, didn't dispute the point.  
  
 _:All of my uniforms look the same,:_ he thought in puzzlement _. :Why do they make such a fuss over ornamentation?:_  
  
"Ah! I know!" Taiki brightened, having come up with a solution to his conundrum. "Lin, bring out the white silk zhongyi with the scarlet trim, the one from the black ensemble, and the deeper crimson satin shenyi, the quju with the shorter sleeves. I'll want the white sash with the golden lilies on it from the grey ensemble and the translucent gold ribbons from the rose ensemble."  
  
There was a breif flurry of activity and then the new outfit was made and Taiki positively beamed with pleasure. He held the bixi and qun that Gyousou had put on up to it, and the colors almost matched perfectly. Gyousou shook his head. Everyone had to have a hobby, he supposed.  
  
"Oh my!" Yuka said, admiring the results. "It looks lovely! You're so creative Kaname!"  
  
"It will go well under the formal daizhishuan I've been saving up for the right occasion. I still haven't finished picking out your jewelry or hairpins, and there's shoes too..." Kaname replied, signalling the two jewelry-box girls and the one with the tray of hair accessories over.  
  
Yuka didn't quite sigh, but it was clear she wanted to as she rolled her eyes heavenward clearly calling on the deity for help or patience.  
  
"Tentei can't help you now," Gyousou said with an amused chuckle at her plight.  
  
"Just you wait," she replied with cool anticipation. "I'll be out of formal court robes soon, and without me around to dress up, he'll devote all of his attention to _you_."  
  
"I already have an imperial uniform," Gyousou replied easily. "There's not much there he can fuss over. With you he gets several layers per hanfuu _and_ the accessories besides. I think I'll keep you around to keep him entertained."  
  
"So sorry, I already have plans," Yuka said, not sounding sorry at all. "But while Taiki is still busy with his plans for the rest of the court attire, I actually wanted to speak with you in private about something."  
  
Yuka gestured him out onto the open walkway that separated her rooms from Meiden palace's inner garden, a (comparatively) small courtyard with a small koi pond, a cherry tree and a few decorative rocks. Three battle-maids separated off from the group and stationed themselves at strategic corners of the garden a discreet distance away, giving them the illusion of privacy while still staying near enough to come to the aid of the consort. Gyousou noticed this and didn't know whether to be amused by it or slightly insulted... _he_ was standing right there after all, if anyone should come to her aid, it should be _him_.  
  
"I think you're moving too fast," Yuka said without preamble.  
  
Gyousou opened his mouth to speak and Yuka held up her hand.  
  
"Hear me out. I know you feel like you've been gone for too long and everything's been languishing here without you, and you need to fix it, and that's good... I understand that. But I have a concern. If you are correct, and it embarrasses me to admit that you do seem to be on to something with the notion that that little Napoleon is up to no good in Tai, then that is all the more reason why you should not act hastily. I want this northern situation resolved as badly as you do, even more if that's possible, but your plan was thrown together in a matter of hours, your army was assembled in a matter of days, you don't actually know your troops and haven't really had time to get to know your enemy either. It just seems like things could go badly, very quickly."  
  
Gyousou considered her words for a long moment. He did not like them. The very last thing he wanted right then was to be told that he should cool down and wait things out. By his observation there had already been enough waiting. If he hadn't had to reign the Royal Court in, he'd already be out on that field retaking his kingdom.  
  
"My strategy is a sound one, but it relies on being able to act quickly," he replied. "If the enemy receives intelligence of my troops alternate movements towards the sea they will change their expectations and their strategies, and victory will be more difficult. Also, as far as movement goes, we only have the advantage until spring arrives."  
  
"I'm not military strategist Saku-san, but I do know the way people think. I have noticed in my time that everyone, even the best of us, always falls prey to a particular character flaw. Taiki has told me that you tend to be impatient, as you are now. You want things done immediately so that everything runs efficiently--"  
  
"As king it is my duty to bring order both here and in my kingdom," Gyousou said a bit sharply.

He was nettled that a girl who hadn't even known him for a week had the temerity to lecture him on his character. Her information was second-hand!  
  
"I'm not saying don't do your job, yes yes **_do_ ** your job!" she urged. "But my real point is this. Asen defeated you once by manipulating the situation to take advantage of your main character flaw, a want of patience. It would make me sad to see him defeat you again by using the same flaw. In fact, if as you say, he's been putting his own pieces into place, then he'll already be anticipating the fact that you'll summon up every reserve you have and run off to reconquer the north. I know I don't have to tell you that this leaves the rest of the kingdom vulnerable."  
  
"The Provinces of Zui, Ran, Chou, Sui, Ki are under crown control," he soothed, at last having caught the meat of her real concerns in her little lecture. She was worried that if he deployed the bulk of the currently loyal forces of Tai away from their stronghold here then there would be nothing protecting her from attack.  
  
"Even if Bun, Ie or Jou should attack in retaliation for my advances on Ba, there will be enough troops remaining behind to fight them all off long enough for me to return. I have ordered my Generals to prepare Kouki for a seige, which I will discuss with you at length in due time. Do not worry, you will be safe enough here in the Royal Palace."  
  
"Having to cut your march off mid-campaign in order recall your armies to defend the capitol would be a splendid way to interrupt your grand march to victory milord," Yuka pointed out dryly.  
  
"A sound strategic point," Gyousou said with surprised approval. "And one I'd already thought of. Come with me..."  
  
Gyousou took her arm and escorted her to the strategy room in Seiden Palace, a room that had clearly not seen a whole lot of use in his "absence." There was a large table in the center of the room with a map of Tai and several markers on it to signify his own and enemy troops size and movements. There were red markers in scattered places along main roads and forts in Ie and Ba, but the main bulk of the enemy's troops were concentrated on the border between Jou and Bun Provinces.  
  
Gyousou called her attention to the very eastern coast of the map at the corner of the top-most wedge in Jou Province.  
  
"In summertime," he explained. "The Jou Provincials would be able to move south along the coast."  
  
"I know," Yuka said sourly. "Many of them have taken to piracy. It almost makes me happy that this mess produces so many fine sea-youma. It keeps the pirate population down."  
  
Gyousou suppressed a small smile at her dry observation.  
  
"If they are to move at all in winter, it must be over land. Even that is difficult especially given their limited supplies."  
  
"All four opposing provinces border Zui," he pointed out next. "But the largest and most accessible border is still Jou. It is difficult to march an army over the broken terrain of Bun, even in summertime. Asen has concentrated the bulk of his forces to launch a counter-attack on Zui as soon as I move all of my troops over to retake Ba."  
  
"You're leaving it vulnerable on _purpose_!" Yuka said, amazed.  
  
"The highest value in a covert operation is to play to your enemies expectations and then do something they don't anticipate. I am aware that my impatience is a weakness, but it is a weakness that my enemy expects, thus it is useful as a maneuvering tool."  
  
"So what do you intend that we should all do while the capitol city is besieged... _again_?" Yuka asked, a little irritatedly.  
  
"Outwait them," he replied. "The armies of the Left and of the Center of the Forbidden Army are already quietly deployed in shoring up the cities defenses and guarding the granaries here in Kouki. The opposition is desperate enough to besiege a city in wintertime, but they can only hold out for so long until their supplies run out. They cannot forage in winter so they need to win the siege before their supplies are expended."  
  
"What about the civilian population of the surrounding countryside?"  
  
"Find an excuse to evacuate them without making it look like you're anticipating an enemy march if you can, if not, you'll simply have to accept them as refugees when the time comes. It will stretch supplies, but I believe they will hold."  
  
"So another war of endurance then," Yuka said with a sigh. "Will I have to greet these warlords too?"  
  
Gyousou actually smiled.  
  
"Asen will move, believing he has outmaneuvered me," he told her. "Once his troops have control of the city he will crawl out from under his rock to ascend the mountain."  
  
"It's so nice that you have this all figured out. Now would be a great time for me to go on vacation. I believe I'll just pack my things, I think I hear a beach somewhere in Ren calling my name."  
  
Yuka made as if to leave and Gousou caught her by the crook of the arm again.  
  
"I must ask you to remain in place for a little longer yet," he said. "Now that I am awake and aware, Asen knows that I will not tolerate his interference, so the only way he will have to neutralize me is by taking a hostage. That hostage would be either you or Taiki, probably Taiki since he is defenseless and you are not."  
  
"I hope you plan to stop him," Yuka said expectantly. "The accommodations on the Isle of Nen are not very pleasant but it _is_ a near-impregnable stronghold. If he got either of us away to that place it would be very difficult to recover us."  
  
"Naturally I plan to stop him," Gyousou reassured her, leading her over to the strategy table and setting up his markers to the strategy he envisioned. "With the way his troops are positioned, he will come at Kouki from the point on the very northern border of Zui, where the borders of Jou and Bun meet. I will move through Ba province from the western coast, as you see he has minimal troops in scattered places where they can't defend or aid one another easily. I will take them out one by one and march through Setsuhoka Fortress on the border between here and Zui. At that point I anticipate that the troops under his command will still be besieged outside of the city gates. I will come around the city from the southeast and the Forbidden Armies of the Left and Center will attack from the walls while I lead the army of the Right to harry their flanks."  
  
The opposition would be literally fighting with their backs to a wall, trapped between the city's defense forces and the army that Gyousou would be leading to come up behind them.  
  
"You know he's not going to move all of his troops for one single attack," Yuka pointed out next.  
  
"And you say you're no military strategist," he replied, pleased that she was keeping up so readily with the discussion.  
  
Yuka snorted  
  
"Any merchant will tell you never to put all your stock in trade on one ship."  
  
"Even if he does not move all of them for this one attack," Gyousou said. "He will move a large number of them. And mostly the ones from Jou and Bun it seems. By the end of the winter, Ba Province will be back under crown control and we will hopefully have taken out a fair portion of the opposition in Jou and Bun."  
  
"What if you get held up?" Yuka countered. "Bun Province borders Ba as well as Jou, he could order his troops deployed to the south and cut you off before you can even reach Setsuhoka Fortress."  
  
"You're looking at the map as a flat thing," he said with a little kindly humor in his eyes. "The border between Ba and Bun Provinces is a mountain range that would be very difficult to march troops over on a good day in summer much less during the middle of winter. Unless it is a kuokuushi, an arial force, there will be no southern troop movement. But good thinking. I will make a military strategist of you yet."  
  
"I won't be here that long," she reminded him. "I want to be in Kei in time for the spring and summer fashion show. Youko promised me a new dress because she lost a wager against me."  
  
"It both relieves and disappoints me that you're so eager to step aside."  
  
"Let's say I'm well aware of my own fatal flaw," Yuka replied.  
  
"And that would be?" he asked curiously.  
  
"Cunning, ruthless ambition."  
  
"That was a prompt answer," he noted a bit dryly.  
  
"Yes."  
  
The shortness of her reply told him both that there was an entire story around it, and that she didn't want to go into it so he should just drop it. Willing to respect her privacy on the matter, Gyousou changed the subject.  
  
"I appreciate that you are willing to help Tai in this matter."  
  
It already went without saying that she wasn't doing this for _him_ in particular. If anything, she was there to help Taiki. Helping Taiki meant keeping Tai safe and stable.  
  
"Only on the condition that you're send Taiki away to safety for the duration. The Capitol city of Kouki will be besieged and even two battalions of the Forbidden Army holding the gates are not enough to guarantee that the city will not fall into enemy hands. If that happens then the Imperial Palace will be overrun and captives will be taken. You and I both know that he cannot truly defend himself and certainly not against something like this. Send him on another of those diplomatic missions."  
  
"I have no pretext to send him to Ren," Gyousou replied.  
  
"Try Han, I did promise him jewels for his kirin after all, we can tie it up with a good-will mission to smooth over any misunderstandings," Yuka replied. "On his way over I'd also like him to stop by Hou, after all, I've had an unofficial correspondence with the Queen there, with your permission I'd like to make official ties. Such a mission will take some time, of course," she said with a conspiratorial smile.  
  
"Quite," Gyousou agreed.  
  
"Can I ask you something?" she said next.  
  
"You may."  
  
"Why didn't you order a few of your soldiers to head south on a kijyuu to execute Asen?"  
  
"I did," he replied candidly. "But they returned with word that he had already moved out."  
  
"I see..." Yuka said, flushing a little.  
  
"You do not need to be embarrassed," he said gently. "You had to act with discretion and mercy in his case for your authority was limited and shared with Taiki. I understand this."  
  
"Sometimes it seemed like everything I did... just made everything worse," Yuka said, gazing down at the map sadly. "I didn't want to divide the nation, much less throw it into a fifty-year stand-off. Risai always urged me to march north with our forces, but I couldn't do that. I didn't want to leave Kaname alone here, not when he was so scared he wouldn't see me again if I left. I couldn't deny people the protection of the soldiers to fight off the youma. It wasn't an ideal situation, but I'd managed to find a balancing point, a place that was just stable enough to endure."  
  
Gyousou gently turned her from the map and took her hand in his. His gaze on her felt less like a crushing gravity and more like the gentle warmth of sun on skin.  
  
"I do not know if I have expressed to you how grateful I am for all you've done," he said sincerely.  
  
Yuka flushed and looked downward, suddenly unable to look up at him again.  
  
"You don't have to thank me, I did it for-"  
  
"I am aware of your reason, but all the same, Tai would not have survived without you. I love my kingdom. Duty to my land and people have always come first to me. It would have killed me to awake and find the land I love in ruins, and Taiki too ill to survive. A balancing point is more than enough to salvage the situation."  
  
"I'm glad to hear it," Yuka said, clearly discomfited by his sincere expression of gratitude. She tried to remove her hand from his and perversely he held it firmly to keep it.  
  
"You don't hear thank-you very much, do you?" he noted dryly, sensing her discomfort.  
  
"Well, being Royal Consort is usually such a thankless job," Yuka replied humorously.  
  
"I am sorry I must ask yet more of you," Gyousou added. "It is not a situation that makes me pleased with it either. Had it been possible i would have given you all the books and cakes you'd like and let you rest."  
  
"It is what it is," Yuka said philosophically.  
  
"Spoken like a true citizen of Tai," he replied with a smile.  
  
It was a phrase and a life-philosophy common to the stoic, hardy northern people.  
  
"At least this time you accepted my thanks," he noted humorously with a touch of rue for the way she had cut him off so neatly the last time he had tried to thank her.  
  
"Taiki scolded me about it," Yuka admitted with a small smile. "I admit I felt a bit bad. I'm good with trade and politics, you'd think I'd be better at handling things like that, but business relationships and personal relationships are very different from the inside of them than they are from the outside, or at least that's the way it seems. On the outside you can look at it and see all of the weak points or the places where a word or a subtle nudge will give you what you're after, but from the inside its like... like swimming in an ocean and trying to enjoy the sunset. When you're on shore you can look out and see the colors on the water and appreciate it, but when you're in the water itself you stop being able to pay attention to things like that."  
  
"I believe I see what you mean," Gyousou replied. "It saddens me a little."  
  
She had been shut up there for too long, dealing with politics and problems, with people complaining in her ears all the time about things she couldn't do anything about. Walking a careful line as the Royal Consort would naturally curtail her relationships. If any of her enemies got even the faintest whiff of anything that might remotely be construed as improper behavior on the part of the Royal Consort they would have used it as a blade to rid themselves of her. It must have been lonely.  
  
"How soon will you leave?" Yuka asked next, businesslike.  
  
"In the morning," Gyousou replied. "I will handle the court and give Taiki his assignment tonight. You will be appointed to run the Royal Court in my absence. The General of the Left and the Center of the Forbidden Army will remain with you to handle the military affairs."  
  
"Genral Risai is the general of the Right," Yuka noted. "She will be leaving with you then?"  
  
"Yes," Gyousou replied.  
  
Risai was one of his most trusted generals, he wanted her there with him on the battlefield. Besides, Jou was her home, he knew how badly she wanted to be there when it was brought back into peaceful rule, and likewise how badly she did not want to fight her own kinsmen.  
  
"Oh, I see..." Yuka said, trying not to look disappointed. Gyousou caught it anyway.  
  
"You and Hakkei Palace will be safe with General Kousou of the Center and General Banlai of the Left," he told her reassuringly. "I know you depend on Risai's advice for military matters, but you can rely on those two as well."  
  
"If I can get them to stop fighting long enough to give me advice," was Yuka's somewhat tart reply. "Their personalities mix like oil and water. I think Banlai goes out of his way to provoke Kousou."  
  
"They're bored," Gyousou said with a small shrug.  
  
"Bored? With all I have them doing with the Youma, and the assassins, how can they possibly be bored?" Yuka wondered.  
  
"Patrols and investigations are not true military maneuvers, and any man in Tai will tell you that any fight is better than no fight at all. When it's time for a good battle, they'll settle in and do what needs doing."  
  
Yuka tapped a finger twice then three more times against the surface of the table, looking hesitant.  
  
"Is there something else?" Gyousou inquired.  
  
Yuka clearly debated internally, then decided to speak.  
  
"You are using me as bait, aren't you," she said. Her tone was careful, and accusatory.  
  
"After a fashion," he agreed gravely. "I dislike placing you in danger-"  
  
"I'm always in danger," Yuka corrected him.  
  
"More so now that Asen moving out in the open," Gyousou said. "I need a way to draw him out. He is not a man who gives away his advantages easily, and keeping to the terrain of the north would be a great advantage indeed when waging war. Conceivably we could fight this war for decades, as strategists we two have always been quite evenly matched. If I want to tie this off, I need to offer him a seemingly quick victory, a prize too tempting for him to resist, and one that he thinks he has planned for. It is a terrible thing I ask of you, but will you do it?"  
  
"I want this over with as swiftly and decisively as you do," Yuka replied. "As long as Taiki is safe, I'll do what must be done."  
  
"Then I thank you," he said.  
  
He examined her with minute intensity for a very long moment. Yuka looked a question at him, clearly disconcerted by his scrutiny.  
  
"You do not seem bothered by this," he said a little incredulously. "I do not know many who would accept the situation I have asked of you so calmly."  
  
"It's not so different from what I've faced before," Yuka replied. "At least with this one, there is the hope for an end to this conflict instead of more interminable proxy-wars and sabre-rattling. Asen is an opponent I've faced before."  
  
"That just means that he probably has a personal vendetta against you as well," Gyousou pointed out.  
  
"Then let him come and bring everything he can muster with him," Yuka replied strongly, with a slightly anticipatory smile. "If he wants a fight so desperately, I suppose we'll have to see that he dies without regrets."  
  
In terms of a fighter of Tai, to die without regrets meant that a warrior died fighting his hardest on the field. The way Yuka put it meant that she intended that this would be the last fight he would ever make. Gyousou found himself with an answering smile on his face, utterly charmed by her unexpected willingness to see the fight through.  
  
"I suppose we shall," he agreed.


	20. Vivat Rex! (May the King Live!)

Yuka followed her maid to her quarters and stepped up on her dressing stool so that they could all begin the process of making her ready for the court Occassion. While they worked around her like so many drones around their queen, Yuka was absorbed in her thoughts.  
  
 _:I had thought that, since he didn't have very long to study up on the current situation and the army was scattered everywhere and the northern provincial forces had superior numbers, there was no way he could come up with a way to engage them. I thought he'd have to find another way, or at the very least wait until spring to start his northern campaign. I thought it'd be a long fight against a foe that evenly matched him and was planning for his arrival. In only a matter of days he managed to come up with a strategy to fully win over one Province by martial force alone,:_ she thought in amazement.   
  
The make-up girl painted her face, while the hair girl started in on the elaborate coiffure Taiki decided on. It came with one of those hideous headdresses too, the kind where hairpins stuck out like spikes on a porcupine, and there were so many beads she felt looked like some kind of mutant Christmas tree. Nearby three maids waited with the layers of the Daizhishuan that Taiki had ordered for her, and another two maids waited with all the jewelry that went with it.  
  
 _:That alone would have impressed me, but that strategy was only a draw and an opening volley in a wider campaign to draw out his real enemy into terrain that favors him. He's already planned his enemies defeat in a matter of weeks! What a scary guy. No wonder they all call him a military genius.:_  
  
Over the years it had irked her a little bit to constantly be compared (unfavorably) to a person she'd never met whose place she didn't really want to fill. She'd pursued the diplomatic route because she believed that an extended military engagement would devastate the kingdoms somewhat shaky finances. She'd thought that it would be impossible to win a fight like this in under a season and Tai could not afford a length campaign. Seeing as she hadn't had the luxury of being able to be absent from Hakkei Palace for so long (those pesky ministers were certain to make trouble in her absence, and Taiki wouldn't reign them in) Yuka had always had to deny Risai's urgings to send an army north and settle things.   
  
_:Everything I thought was impossible, he's managed to figure out a way to do,:_ Yuka thought, actually feeling deeply impressed by it, which was something she hadn't expected.  
  
 _:He's a scary genius.:_  
  
Next, the robe-girls attacked. Yuka was stripped of the dressing wrap and rubbed with scented oil. First came the stola-like first layer. The zohngyi's top had wide translucent golden-colored silk sleeves, with a two-inch thick embroidered red band at the end of the sleeves that would be seen. The simple zhongyi skirt wrapped around her waist and was faded from a deep crimson at the bottom hem into scarlet at the waist. Both top and bottom were cinched in at the waist with a plain sash that would not show. Next the shorter-sleeved display-shenyi was put on her. The open V-collar that met at the waist sash (revealing the crossed V-neck of the zhongyi beneath) was lined with three inches of red brocade satin, with golden phoenixes brocaded in gold thread. The main body of the Shenyi was deep crimson satin with brocaded gold phoenixes holding gold flowers in their beaks. The bottom hem of the shenyi was a wide, diagonal-cut that wrapped around her three times to create a multi-layered effect. The three inch wide band of embroidery at the bottom hem was patterned with golden phoenixes on a crimson silk and there was a slight train to deal with. The train had a very large phoenix embroidered in pure gold thread where it dragged out gracefully behind her. The even the _sash_ had three layers, a red one, then a slightly smaller golden-colored one with embroidery on it, then a very small cord with a pendant on it of red jade carved with phoenixes with with a long tassel.  
  
 _:Wow, Taiki put a lot of work into this,:_ Yuka thought impressed.

The under-layers may have been scavanged from other ensembles, but the outer display layer of the daizhishuan with its intricately embroidered gold phoenixes would have taken several days to finish even with all of the palace seamstresses working on it. Taiki had probably either ordered it ahead of time, or simply had it waiting for the day when she could wear it.

:Sweet boy...: Yuka thought a bit fondly while the servants rushed around, dressing her like an overlarge doll.  
  
The jewelry that mached the daizhishuan was all made of the new gems she had developed too, the kind that changed colors when the light hit them at different angles. Yuka had made a set of gems that colored red and gold and orange like fire, intending to give them as a gift to Youko, who was famous for her red hair. It seemed that Taiki had found them first and had decided that gifts could wait. The jewels were all put into settings that coordinated with the phoenix theme.   
  
_:With the headdress and the jewels and all the gold embroidery, I think this might be his heaviest creation yet,:_ Yuka thought, trying hard to step down gracefully without feeling like she should be waddling around in it.   
  
After fifty years of court occasions she'd sort of gotten used to it all, but somehow, tonight she suddenly felt very awkward and strangely anxious about her appearance. Did she look odd in all of those clothes? Taiki usually had such excellent taste when it came to picking out things that blended harmoniously together so Yuka never had any qualms about letting him have his fun, but she suddenly wondered if she didn't maybe look a little overdone.   
  
_:Relax,:_ she counseled herself. _:You're just jittery because tonight's a big night and you'll be left to run things on your own tomorrow.:_  
  
Her heart was pounding and her stomach was clenched in a way that hadn't happened in a very long time. Did she look strange? Maybe she should have asked Taiki to pick something simpler.  
  
"Come along milady," the head of the room-maids urged her. "You don't want to be late."  
  
Yuka met with Taiki in his relatively simple black court uniform on the front steps of Meiden Palace. Those steps descended to a scrubbed-clean white marble path that flowed past Seiden Palace and across another inner palace garden to the west gate. That west inner gate led to one of the grand imperial courtyards in the Gaiden, the administrative end of the palace, and to the Hall of Eternal Harmony, which was the official title of the main throne-room of the Royal Court.   
  
"It's a nice night for a walk, eh Yuka?" Taiki said cheerfully with a wide smile.  
  
"Yes, I'm so glad we got rid of the palanquins," Yuka agreed.   
  
After all, without a strict king around to keep them from mischief, even those two felt that they could get away with bending a few rules here and there. It seemed that Gyousou, however, agreed with their no palanquin policy, for he himself was already walking down the path that led to the entrance to the Hall of Eternal Harmony that was reserved for the ruler of the land. Taiki and Yuka had been using the main entrance for the last fifty years, walking down the long hall to take up their positions beside the empty throne instead of taking the royal entrance directly to the royal dais.   
  
"Ah!" Taiki said happily as he spotted his master. "Gyousou-sama!"  
  
The kirin hurried his pace to match his king, who was dressed in fewer, and certainly less elaborate, layers than Yuka and the only color on his austere black imperial uniform was the bixi and qun that Taiki had picked out. He turned at the sound of his kirin's voice to look back at the two of them making their way up the wide, white path in the stark light of the moon.   
  
_:I knew it, I must look weird,:_ Yuka thought feeling another pang of self-consciousness.   
  
He was staring at her, probably because her hair was sprouting hairsticks like fields sprouted daisies. Or maybe her shenyi was too elaborate or all the matching jewelry was too sparkly.   
  
_:At least he's wearing a crown,:_ Yuka comforted herself. Though the abbreviated crown he wore didn't look anywhere _near_ as heavy as the arrangement that Taiki had ordered put in her hair. Yuka was jealous of him, her neck hurt already!  
  
"That's no fair," she mumbled reaching self-consciously for her up-do. " _He_ doesn't have to wear all of this."  
  
"No touching!" Taiki scolded as he gently prevented her from removing a single hairstick. "I picked out that arrangement to match your daixishuan. That's the phoenix-in-splendor style, and no you may _not_ take any of them out."  
  
"But it's so _heavy_ ," Yuka mumbled.  
  
"It looks perfect," Taiki said. "Just like how I pictured it!"  
  
Yuka sighed, giving in. The kirin lacked confidence in a lot of ways but he could be surprisingly stubborn when it came to aesthetics. Particularly Yuka's, whom he seemed to regard as his personal life-sized doll sometimes.   
  
"You look very lovely," Gyousou told her, his voice was soft and not pitched to carry.

Even so, Yuka suddenly felt her stomach twitch. She figured she must be more anxious about court that night than she'd realized. Yuka wasn't sure if she believed him or not, he had been staring after all. In her experience, people only stared if she looked odd. She'd been subjected to stares like that back in her school days and it had never been a very good experience. Still, no point in being rude.  
  
"Thank-you," she replied with a graceful and correct nod of gratitude for the compliment. Actually, she had to perform a small bow instead of a nod, out of consideration for the weight of her hair, which didn't really allow for her to move her head or neck much. "Your imperial robe really suits you."  
  
And she did mean that. With his moon-pale hair and deep red eyes, he really looked good in black. His serious, slightly stern expression combined with his excellent physique and regal bearing made him look like a _real_ king from right out of a story.   
  
"I would sooner be in armor," he replied honestly.   
  
"Gyousou-sama, must you go so soon?" Taiki tried again.  
  
His eyes were pleading. Clearly growing desperate to keep his master there with him a little longer, Taiki was hauling out the big guns. It was full-on puppy-eyes, with just a hint of tear. Even the ever-stern warrior-king softened just a little.  
  
"Taiki, you know I must," he said pityingly.  
  
"Can't you stay just a little bit longer? One more day even?" he wheedled like a five year old trying to push back bedtime.  
  
"My my," Yuka interceded, smoothly taking her friend by his arm and pulling him along with her. "It's the momentous and happy occasion we've been waiting for. If you cry, you'll ruin your clothes."  
  
"But Gyousou-sama won't stay, Yuka," he said sadly. "Can't you make him stay?"  
  
"I'm just the stand-in Royal Consort," Yuka said firmly. "I know you have some separation anxiety and I love you sweetie, but I hardly know him well enough to unleash my feminine wiles or whatever."  
  
Taiki laughed at that.  
  
"I've never seen you unleash your feminine wiles... except on your enemies. Then it's kinda scary."  
  
"Your mama never told you women are scary?" Yuka joked as she ever so subtly moved him along.  
  
"My mama wasn't a tiger-lady like you," Taiki replied, cheering up a little.   
  
"A tiger-lady? Who me? I think you must be mistaken my dear," Yuka said, surprised. "Tiger-ladies are fierce and frightening kinds of women with sharp teeth and claws who will descend on PTA meetings, during which, heads will roll and they shall make teachers and other lesser mortals quake in terror."  
  
"Ah, so the old proverb is true," Gyousou said, affecting surprise as he shared a conspiratorial look of amusement with his kirin. "A tiger never recognizes its own stripes."  
  
"How did this become about me? I thought we were picking on him," Yuka objected.   
  
"I fear you are outflanked Lady Yuka," Gyousou replied, preparing another proverb. "Even ten thousand soldiers will fall before the truth."  
  
"Truths are common as pearls, proverbs are common as pebbles," Yuka replied.  
  
"A man with his eyes closed can walk ten thousand miles and learn nothing, a man with his eyes open can step outside and attain sagacity," Gyousou riposted.  
  
"Learning is gained while standing up, wisdom while falling down," Yuka replied.   
  
"A hawk that hides its talons will not catch breakfast, a man who hides his talents will not catch opportunities."  
  
"The bird that sings loudest, gets shot."  
  
At that Gyousou abruptly laughed.  
  
"I was warned you have a penchant for wit," he told her, laughingly. "But now I'm amazed any of your opponents ever open their mouths in front of you."  
  
"I try to stop them. I _do_ ," Yuka said with mock-sadness. "But if they insist on speaking nonsense I hope they don't expect me not to call a knife a knife."  
  
They arrived at the doorway that led into the main throne room and Gyousou separated from Taiki and Yuka with a wave to take the smaller side-door that opened out behind the wood screens on the screened off dais.   
  
"You're smiling," Yuka noted as she squeezed his arm.  
  
"I'm just so happy that he's finally back, even if he does have to leave right away."  
  
"Me too," yuka agreed. Their reasons for happiness were not the same, Taiki was happy because he loved Gyousou the person, Yuka was happy because having him back meant that she could finally have a break.

"Once more into the breach, my friend," Yuka murmured as the main doors loomed before them.  
  
The slightly dim opening antechamber where all of the Court officials removed thier outdoor shoes was already filled with shoes and body-servants and she paid it as much mind as she ever did. A gong was rung as she and Taiki approached the main door that led into the Hall proper. The double doors were twice her height, made of a solid, reinforced wood painted blue with white-gold facing. The facing was of a great dragon and a kirin, inlaid with precious gems and stones. The doors divided in half and opened soundlessly to the ringing of another gong.   
  
The Hall of Imperial Harmony was grand and visually splendid. Even after so many years and so much struggle within it, Yuka was always taken a bit aback by the sheer magnitude of it all. Sometimes it seemed impossible that so much sheer space could possibly be enclosed. The grand vaulted ceiling was like a second sky, with no less than three rows of glass skylights, further adding to the  feeling of spaciousness. The barrel-vaulted, skylit ceiling was held aloft by rows of round pillars, each pillar carved from a solid, translucent, white-clear crystal. The light that played through the skylights in the ceiling shone through the translucent pillars making each of them glow as though lit from within. Suspended from thin, silver chains were clear crystals carved as snowflakes to catch the light. The floor was white stone polished to an ice-mirror finish. Truly, the name "Whitejewel Palace" was well deserved.   
  
_:It's so beautiful here, it's too bad I have almost no good memories of my time in this room,:_ Yuka thought a little wistfully.  
  
All of her memories in this room involved less trying to rule, and more wheedling, cajoling, tricking and threatening various ministers and officials to try to keep the throne together against their own self-interest. Often she had looked at the empty throne and just wished there were _someone_ sitting in it so that she would not have to sit there and be bullied like she had been in her school days.  
  
 _:My last night as Royal Consort, sitting by Taiki's side...:_ she thought a little sadly as she looked out of the corner of her eye at the kirin, who, instead of sporting his usual anxious look, was smiling with calm serenity.  
  
The two of them were side by side, as usual, when they entered the main throne room via the door across from the dais with the throne on it. The blue carpet divided the room leading up to the dais, and as Taiki and Yuka walked down it side by side there was the usual soft murmur of an unruly Court being as disrespectful as they dared. They didn't _quite_ jeer, but they very very ostentatiously ignored the Taiho and Royal Consort and spent their time chatting with their neighbors. They also each only gave the most perfunctory of bows. Even coming from a culture that no longer bowed all the way down, Yuka and Kaname would have called the bows rude.  
  
 _:We'll just see how respectfully they want to bow in a minute,:_ Yuka thought with slightly malicious delight.  
  
Since it was a full meeting at the end of the year, there were not only the prime and vice ministers of each of the Six Ministries, but all nine of the shuukou, minus Taiki, who was filling his position of Taiho. He had a stand-in for his place which was his personal secretary, an old man named Agekun.   
  
The court was bowed over as Yuka and Taiki walked to their usual places before the screened in dais that until now had held the empty throne. The mother-of-pearl rattan blinds were lowered all the way, signalling that the Royal Court was not yet in session. On an ordinary meeting, Yuka and Taiki would take their places on the small, lower dais placed a step down from the larger dais that held the throne, and the rattan blinds would only raise half-way signalling that a court with an unoccupied throne was in session. Taiki would stand to the right of the throne in the traditional spot inhabited by Taiho around the world. Yuka would sit on a low cushion to the left of the throne right across from him, a place signifying that she was a royal adviser. It was a little irregular, but there was a precedence for it. Once in Sou, the king had been badly wounded in a coup and the Taiho and Royal Wife had occupied those places.   
  
The gong was rang again and the majordomo announced that the session would begin. The noise inside the chamber didn't diminish in the slightest. For many years Yuka and Taiki had had to wrangle the Court into a more respectful near-silence, and even then, when court began, there were those whose positions were so unassailable that they could afford to ignore the Taiho and Royal Consort with impunity.    
  
 _:Not anymore.:_  
  
There was one final full bow as the rattan screen closing off the dais with the throne on it was raised. Taiki was grinning fit to split his face wide open as the rattan screen, which had remained half-raised before an empty throne for the last fifty years, was thrown all the way up the reveal the throne fully occupied by the rightful ruler of Tai.   
  
The whole court collectively gasped when greeted with the sight of their rightful king suddenly in his place upon the throne, looking out at the room with a stony visage, like a hawk deciding which mouse it was going to stoop on first. After the initial gasp of surprise, the room was so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Yuka thought that people might not even be breathing.   
  
Gyousou looked stern and kingly sitting there on his throne. His gaze was so sharp that it looked like it could cut through stone, and Yuka knew that there were more than a few people in the court who _had_ to be shaking in their robes. The gong was rung again and all bowed to the throne. Many threw themselves over in a slightly terrified signal of abject humility that was clearly an attempt to show that they were all more than willing to obey the rightful ruler of Tai, or at least that they feared him so much that they didn't want to be his enemy.   
  
Yuka bowed respectfully, and due to his dispensation, did not have to feel like she was begging forgiveness by touching her head to the floor. When she glanced over, Taiki looked like he didn't want to come up from his bow, as though he could have been perfectly happy staying bowed over like that all night long.  
  
"My apologies for my long absence," Gyousou's perfect voice carried easily out over the chamber without sounding like there was an effort made to make it any louder that conversational. "Ie-shuukou Yujun Kou, Bun-shuukou Saku Jin, Ba-shuukou Tori Korosai, Jou-shuukou Sei Aikara, please come forward."  
  
The four lords in question quiveringly rose to their feet and stepped onto the blue carpet that divided the room in half leading up to the throne. As one they bowed down low to the king on their knees. Gyousou's face remained as impassive as a statue carved of granite, the four shuukou who had been called to the carpet were visibly shaking.  
  
 _:Is it wrong of me that I'm enjoying this so much?:_ Yuka wondered with a little bit of relish at seeing those troublesome bastards about to finally get what was due them.   
  
Her memory reminded her of all the petty slights and direct insults she'd had to swallow from them over the years, plus all the stress they'd given her on a daily basis, and she decided that no, she had more than earned a little bit of gloating.  
  
"Whatever else your offenses," Gyousou said in a voice that sounded quiet, but could be heard in every corner of the cavernous Hall. "You have failed to fulfill your duties to the crown as province lords, and have violated your oaths of office on several occasions. You are thus stripped of your titles and positions in this court and kingdom. I grant you three days to gather your personal effects and whatever dependents you may have, and leave this land never to return. Your registration on the record of immortals is revoked, as well as your citizenship record within the kingdom of Tai. I suggest you leave quickly."  
  
 _:And don't let the door hitcha where the Tentei splitcha,:_ Yuka thought humorously.   
  
Taiki looked like he might have protested the harshness of exile, but Yuka caught his eye and shook her head. Gyousou had really been far _more_ than generous by granting them time to pack up and leave. That he had done so was further reassurance that he was a king who didn't lean to overly harsh punishments even if they were deserved. His punishment was enough to get the result he wanted, and possibly to make those who might be inclined to do so reflect on themselves, and no more. If he had executed them for example (as was certainly within the law for offenses such as theirs) it might certainly have proven his point and ended the troubles, but opening that particular box would eventually cause further unrest and unease in the mind of the people. After all, the Kingdom of Hou wasn't so far away from them that none of the citizens of Tai hadn't heard of what had happened with King Chuutatsu and his bloodbath-reign. Yuka found that Gyousou's mercy raised him in her esteem.  
  
Next the king pulled out a scroll and got directly to business. He didn't replace any of the Prime or Vice Ministers in the court, not even the Minister of Fall, but he did fire a long list of lesser officials throughout all six of the different ministries that had been caught taking bribes, and replaced them with the people that she and Risai had trained up to take their places and put recommendations for their appointments. Yuka couldn't help but feel more than a bit pleased and gratified that he gave her recommendations such weight that he employed the people she thought might make good matches for those positions. The palace staff he kept mostly the same, except for a minor change here or there where an official had been flagrantly flaunting the rules in the absence of the king.  
  
It was a very long list for them to get through, for there were a  _lot_ of names on the scroll. Consequently, they were there for a number of hours. The king didn't waste any time elaborating on his reasons why these people needed replacement, those sorts of details would probably be recorded by scribes in their severance letter, he simply read out the name, and who would be replacing them, but even with this somewhat callous efficiency it took a long time to get through them all. Yuka sort of wished it were still within her power to call for tea during a full court session, but now that the king was back on the throne her authority for such things was greatly reduced (and such a gesture would be completely setting the wrong tone).  
  
"The rest of the matters with the officials here in court will wait," he announced after what felt like days. "I am sure that many of you may have heard rumors about an unexpected State Visit here in Whitejewel Palace, it is a pleasure to announce that Tai has increased trade relations with the kingdom of Han. As a gesture of goodwill, I will be sending a trusted emissary to the Royal Han, Go Ranjou, with a package of gems that were promised to him as part of our agreement. Due to the unique nature of the gift, I can't trust them to just anyone, so I will be sending the Taiho to the imperial palace in Han with their copy of the new trade agreement."  
  
Poor Taiki looked so dismayed. He very clearly wanted to protest his being sent away, but his master had spoken and the decision had been made. Yuka would comfort and talk with him about it later.  
  
 _:It should be unsettling for me to have so many decisions made in court without my approval,:_ Yuka thought to herself.   
  
She was accustomed, after all, to sharing a joint rulership with Taiki, and having almost the final say in any decision that was made that affected either Tai or Hakkei Palace or any trade agreements made with other kingdoms.   
  
_:I guess I should feel at least a little slighted that I'm not actually consulted on any of these, but what I really feel right now is relief,:_ she thought to herself. _:Maybe he's a bit high-handed, but frankly I'm quite content to let him have at it. As soon as this war gets won, I want to be out of the palace and on my way to anywhere but here.:_  
  
"In closing," Gyousou said. "I will be out of the palace for some time. It seems that in my absence there are some few of Tai's Provinces that have decided they can run themselves better than the government of this kingdom, so it seems I am required to go and prove them wrong. In the absence of myself and the Taiho, I am appointing the Royal Consort as acting with my authority. By my permission, she will occupy the throne while I am away. That is all."  
  
With that abrupt announcement, the king rose from his throne, the whole court bowed again, the gong was rung and the blinds were lowered to the ground signalling that the court session was finished with. If his position as king of the land had permitted it, Yuka was certain that Gyousou would have been mobbed by his well-wishers and supporters (as well as the usual brown-nosers) but the dignity of his rank and the man's own stern demeanor kept the crowd at bay and allowed him to exit the chamber in peace and dignity. Taiki, eyes filled with tears at the thought of being sent so cruelly away from his master for such a long period of time, swiftly rose and flew out a side door. Yuka sighed quietly to herself, rose with a small bow to the court, and followed after him.


	21. Chapter 21

_:Well! He's gotten more done in a day than I've managed to get done in nearly a decade!:_ Yuka thought.  
  
Yuka partly wished she was of a station to join in the celebration, for servants brought out bottles of wine and hot sake and all of the dark-robed ministers and officials began cheering and celebrating. Several of the high-ranked officials announced that larger parties would be held to continue the celebration in their quarters. Yuka had a feeling that these parties were going to last even far past dawn and into the next day. She might have thought about possibly blighting one of the lesser parties with her presence (because she too wanted to celebrate a little bit) but she caught Taiki's worried look as he rose and hurried off so instead she followed after him.  
  
The familiarity of their long association guided her steps as Yuka worked her way methodically through Kaname's favorite hiding spots. He wasn't in the painting hall, nor in his kings rooms in Seiden Palace, he wasn't at the koi pond, or at his favorite balcony over looking the sea of clouds. At last she found him in his favorite corner of inner Seiden garden, curled up in a bower made of the roots of his favorite tree and seveal trained flowering vines, weeping into the sleeves of his court zhishen.  
  
 _:Sweet boy, but he's always been a bit of a crybaby...:_ Yuka thought.  
  
Sometimes it had seemed to her that she'd spent half of her time as Royal Consort drying Taiki's tears when he got upset over something; either his master not waking up, the northern lords fighting with them, or someone spoke too harshly in court.  
  
"Gy- Gyousou-sama...." Taiki sniffled. "Gyousou-sama is sending me away! What did I do? Is he angry?"  
  
"Now now," Yuka soothed settling in beside him and pulling out a handkercheif from her sleeve to help him dry his tears. "You know that it isn't so. Your Gyousou-sama loves you, you know that."  
  
"Then why.. why is he sending me away?" he asked quaveringly.  
  
"The land is even more unsettled than it was when he took the throne the first time. You know as well as I that if he's to have any hope of settling matters then he needs to act quickly," Yuka said gently, stroking his hair as he settled himself on her lap and to let himself be comforted. "He's sending you away because while he's gone he knows that palace will be even more vulnerable than usual. He doesn't want what happened last time to happen this time so he's putting you someplace out of reach where none of his enemies can get to you."  
  
"How come you get to stay Yuka _? You're_ not a Taiho!" Taiki sounded unusually petulant for him, but it was only to be expected.

Happiness to Taiki meant being close to his master, unhappiness meant being far away from him. By his standards, Yuka got to be happier than he was because she would still be in the same country as his master while he was sent to another land.  
  
"Well," Yuka said, with a gentle smile as she combed her fingers through his soft dark strands, admiring its silky texture as she always did. "Since he has such a useful placeholder in me, the throne won't be vacant when he has to leave Hakkei Palace to settle the kingdom. He can leave the palace confidently this time. He can afford to send you on a diplomatic mission to smooth over Han-ou's ruffled feathers, you know how important they are as a trading partner. Now of all times Tai can't afford to lose the income from Han's appetite for our gems. He's given you something really important to do Taiki."  
  
"Why doesn't he send you?" Taiki asked, a bit resentfully.  
  
"Two reasons," Yuka replied frankly. "One, leaving you in the palace without a ready defence force to protect you would be a disaster and two... you saw what happened with that Go Ranjou when he visited here, and that was even right under Tai-ou's nose! I do hope your dear king would have a good deal more sense than to send me off into a lion's, or in this case potential letcher's, den."  
  
"Oh. Right," Taiki said, a little subdued.  
  
He was still distressed at having to be sent away from his master, but it was clear to him now that part of the reason that his master was sending him was to ease his mind while he himself had to be away from the palace. And if it was to ease his king's mind, then Taiki would be willing to brave anything.  
  
Soothing Taiki often had the salubrious effect of soothing her own nerves as well. His hair was so soft and pretty! Whent he light hit it just right it often had a dark metallic sheen to it, like sunlight striking on a bar of black steel. It was even softer and smoother than satin, Yuka could have spent hours just combing her fingers through it. She found herself humming a soothing little song softly as she played with his hair.  
  
Taiki sighed contentedly. In the years when he had not been able to be with his master, sometimes being with Yuka could be almost as good, or at least, it often took the edge off the loneliness.  
  
Yuka could only imagine how strange it must ave looked to Gyousou when he rounded the corner of the garden and found the shaded little bower filled with Yuka in her finest gourt gown settled on the root of a tree with a supine Taiki, like an overlarge puppy, settled in her lap being petted like a cat. He did blink for a minute then smiled softly.  
  
"I hope I am not intruding," he said as he stepped into the shaded little nook.  
  
"Of course not!" Taiki reassured him animatedly.

Taiki was so patently happy to see the intruder that Yuka was willing to let it go for his sake. Kaname had been like a beloved little brother to her for many years now, and she had developed some sort of strange sense of competiton with Gyousou because of Taiki's continued adoration of him, but she knew in the end it was his happiness that mattered. Being with his king was part of a measure of Taiki's happiness, she was simply going to have to learn to be accustomed to sharing her dear friend with him.  
  
Taiki made room for his king on the ground next to him and Gyousou settled himself with the aura of a man who was accustomed to being comfortable in rough conditions and didn't let it bother him overmuch. The Royal Tai even managed to sit on the ground with an air of dignity, but it wasn't the same sort of overly refined, slightly self-conscious sense of dignity that the former King of Kou had exuded when Yuka had served under him. _That_ man's had been a very cold sort of dignity, as if it should be clear to anyone  that everything was very much beneath him. Yuka couldn't help but frown a bit however, when Taiki abandoned her lap in favor of his king's lap as soon as Gyousou had settled in. She was pleased to see the affectionate look that Gyousou gave Taiki as he began to pet the kirin's hair the same way Yuka had been doing a moment ago but still... she felt a bit abandoned.  
  
"I came to reassure you that your assignment was not a punishment, but it seems that I've been beaten to it," Gyousou said with a small smile.  
  
"Yuka knows where all of my favorite hiding places are," Taiki replied, mirroring his king's smile with a larger one of his own.  
  
 _:Look at him, he's positively glowing,:_ Yuka marveled. _:It's so good to see him truly happy again.:_  
  
The whole time she had known him, she'd always sort of associated Taiki with a pale, weak sort of emotion, a sadness permeated everything he said and did and made his presence feel like walking in very wan moonlight. Now instead of thin moonlight, Taiki glowed like a miniature sun with happiness and Yuka was willing to accept his king if only for the fact that he made Taiki so very happy.  
  
"The court is so happy to have you back Gyousou-sama," the kirin continued. "Everyone is throwing a party! I'm happy you're back too, and so is Yuka."  
  
Yuka absently massaged her neck which had grown very sore from supporting the weight of her hairstyle with all of those gold pins and the headress and combs and jewels, which had been very awkward and heavy. The multiple layers of red silk made heavy with gold embroidery also weighed on her limbs and the wide sash and stiff front panel made the elaborate court daizhishuan difficult to move in easily. If anyone were to attack her right at that moment, she might have to rely on the king for protection, for there was very little manuverability in her current court robe.   
  
"I might change clothes and go crash one of the parties," Yuka said wistfully. "It feels like ages since I've had any fun. Then again, some of the ministers are real letchers, or at least that what my maids tell me, it might be better to raid the kitchens for some cake and finally get to read my book. The book I never got back to, thanks to a _certain someone_."  
  
Yuka gave a very significant look over in Gyousou's direction. He raised his hands appeasingly.  
  
"I beg your forgiveness Lady Yuka," he said, sounding amused.  
  
"Sadly, in the interests of national harmony, I have little choice but to forgive you," Yuka replied tartly, but secretly there was a little part of her that was very pleased with the attention.

The kings of Han and En sending inapproprate attention her way were more of a nuisance and did not please her. Somehow though when he looked at her, she was not annoyed by him.  
  
"You're all graciousness," he assured her with an amused look.  
  
"And don't you forget it," Yuka replied pertly as she rose to her feet in the intimate, leafy space of the bower to depart to her own quarters.   
  
  Yukahad to be very careful as she rose, for with as many hairpins as she had sticking out everywhere, she could easily get caught in the low hanging branches of the shallow bower where Taiki had hidden himself. One hand resting against the trunk of the tree that formed the support of the kings back and the other hand raised slightly above her to try to keep the elaborate couiffure that Taiki had arranged for her from tangling in the branches.

"Now I know how stags must feel," Yuka joked lightly as she bowed her head to manuever out of the bower.

Despite her best efforts however, one of her hairsticks, one with a small curtain of beads hanging down from it, did become caught and she froze, reaching up to try to untangle herself.

"Here," Gyousou said, rising beside her and signalling that she should remain still. "I do not believe there is any point in saving it now."

With deft movements he removed the headress and all of it's attendant hairsticks, pulling her hair down and loose from the heavy style.

"Every year I promise myself that I'm just going to cut it all off and have it short like it used to be and just wear wigs to court like a sensible woman," Yuka said, trying to disguise how very nervous she suddenly felt with the unaccustomed presence of a man so very close to her. It might have been her imagination, but it was almost like she could feel his presence radiating out from him like warmth from a sun.

"Whyever for?" Gyousou asked, sounding surprised. "Your hair is lovely when it is long like this."

Yuka gave a small embarrased shrug.

"Vanity, I suppose. That and it would feel too much like giving in. If I cut my hair with the intention that it would be a weakness in battle, it almost seems like saying I don't have enough confidence in myself to protect my pride. That and..."

She gestured to the kirin.

"Gyousou is right Yuka," Taiki said brightly. "Your hair is lovely when it's long. And I can fit plenty of these in it and style it up."

"Well there we have it I suppose," Gyousou said with a look of shared amusement at Yuka when he handed her the handful of jeweled hair accessories to take back with her. 

"Goodnight then Taiho, and your majesty," Yuka said with a small bow, her now loose hair hanging down over her shoulder.

"And you as well,"Gyousou said, settling himself back down with his kirin.

She smiled over her shoulder at the rather adorable picture they made sitting there on the grass in the moonlight, Taiki looking like a well-fed and happy puppy while Gyousou looked every part an indulgent king. It really was too cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If taiki seems a little bit strange in that he's weeping like a child in this chapter it's because I mentally wrote him as little child!Taiki in this chapter instead of adding on the maturaity that fifty years on the throne probably gave him. I suppose we'll just say that the restoration of his king had made him revert to a more emotional state. Yeah, that'll work. Shout outs to those who have reveiwed and dropped kudos my way, so happy to know this fic is being read at all.


	22. Volo Defendo (I will defend)

Gyousou looked after her retreating form, surprised to find himself feeling disappointed that she chose to leave them so soon. He understood that she was preparing herself to step aside, but he found, to his surprise, that he rather enjoyed her presence.  
  
"Gyousou-sama," Taiki said sleepily from where he lay, sprawled out on the ground beside his master.  
  
"Yes?" he asked.  
  
"Yuka and I have been partners for fifty years," he said, a bit hesitantly. "She wasn't a real replacement for you, but with her around I never felt lonely. I know it's selfish, but since she's already agreed to sit on the throne in your stead for now, do you think you could ask her to stay? I'd miss her if she went away."  
  
Gyousou looked down with sad fondness at his brave kirin.  
  
"I wish I could grant your request Kouri," he said gently. "Your friend has served loyally but only out of loyalty to _you_ and because she cares about you. She's earned her rest. When I am finished bringing the rebel provinces to heel and restoring peace to Tai, I do not believe it would be fair of me to ask her to remain beyond that point. I am sure she will always be your friend."  
  
"But..." Taiki protested a little.  
  
Taiki had always disliked change, it seemed. He clearly disliked loosing people that were close to him. He did have, as Consort Yuka had put it, separation anxiety. His king was leaving him in the morning, and he would be going away to another land shortly after. For the first time in many decades, not even Yuka would be by his side and it clearly bothered him that everything as happening so fast. Gyousou could do little else than pet his kirin's hair and reassure Taiki of his king's devotion to him and to their kingdom.  
  
"I have every intention of cleaning up quickly so that I can return quickly, Kouri" Gyousou said. "Your friend is a very strong woman, I'm sure that she will be able to handle matters here in the palace until I can return from my battles. I am also certain that it is very important to her that she feels you will be in a safer lace during these dangerpus times."  
  
Gyousou hadn't mentioned the fact that he intended to put Yuka in the rather difficult position of ruling over a soon-to be-besieged city. She was to be (as she had so succinctly and perceptively put it) bait in a trap to draw out Asen and the main bulk of his forces to a place where Gyousou would have the advantages of terrain. Risai had said she'd handled herself well many decades ago when she had been placed at the head of the armies of Kei and En to erradicate Asen's main forces, he had to hope that in all of that time of politicking, she had not lost her fighters edge.  
  
"And I have every faith that you will be able to handle yourself well in both Han and Hou," Gyousou adeptly steered the subject away from Yuka before Kouri might put two and two together.  
  
"I'm to go to Hou now?" Taiki protested.  
  
"I've drawn up a new trade agreement with them, and I need you to act as my emmissary for a time. I understand that relations between our nations have been nurtured in recent decades," he smiled a little.  
  
"Yuka likes to gossip with the new queen of Hou," Taiki mumbled. "Both of them like to wear nice perfume and drink tea, plus it seems like Yuka thinks she's funny. The letters she sends always make her laugh anyway. They aren't friends the same way Yuka and Youko are, but they seem to like each other."  
  
"Oh dear," Gyousou said, pulling a long face. "Perfume and tea, you say? It seems that I have nothing in common with this new ruler then. As soon as Lady Yuka leaves the throne relations between our two kingdoms might fall apart. I'll have to count on you to make sure they stick."  
  
"Alright, Gyousou-sama," Taiki said, sighing a bit heavily at the thought of being parted from his king for even a day longer than he absolutely had to be.  
  
"You'll make a fine envoy," the king encouraged. "They'll love you in Hou, and I'm sure Han will be happy to receive you again."  
  
"He'll probably be disappointed that I was sent and not Yuka," Taiki said with unusual frankness. "Even though he knows she's supposedly bad luck, I think he's still smitten with her."  
  
"I heard that the last time he visited, during the reign of the old king, all they did was talk art and fashion," Gyousou replied. "I was only a captain in the royal army at that point so I don't know for certain that that's how it was but I heard Han-ou spent a lot of time either praising the decorations, or demanding different quarters. Strange fellow."  
  
"I think the only reason he likes Yuka so much is that she somehow fits his strange sense of aesthetic," Taiki said with a small smile. "I sent him a portrait of her, and in Yuka's words, he's made a pest of himself ever since."  
  
"That's probably it," Gyousou agreed humorously.  
  
"Do you think she's pretty Gyousou-sama?" Taiki asked next.  
  
 _:He sounds a little like a child wanting to know that their doll or toy is the very best one in the whole world and that all other children's toys cannot possibly match up to thiers_ ,: Gyousou thought a bit humorously.  
  
"Yes, Lady Yuka is very pretty," he said indulgently.  
  
He was surprised however to note that if he was honest with himself, he didn't disagree with the statement he'd just said to his kirin. She wasn't a _Beauty_ in the conventional sense, in a crowd she might attract a glance or two, but she wouldn't turn heads. It would be closer to say that she was pretty in a striking sort of way. A small, slender woman with a heart-shaped face and dark, sharp eyes wouldn't normally attract attention but there was an appeal about her. She wasn't the sort of court beauty that the old king would have collected for his harem, the sort where anyone looking at them would have inarguably said that she was a specimen of pure physical atractiveness, but there was something about her sharp gaze and the aura of self-possession she had. Her face had a great deal of personality to it. She was confident and witty. Her sharp eyes possessed a great deal of intelligence, and he imagined she'd probably needed every bit of it to navigate the trecherous waters that Tai had become in the last several decades.  
  
"I'm happy you're awake, Gyousou-sama, but I still wish she'd stay too."  
  
"After fifty years by your side, Taiki, I doubt that she's going to be gone forever," his king predicted. "She'll go for a while but then she'll probably come back to see you. She really cares about you after all."  
  
Taiki hesitated for a long moment, then finally said  
  
"Gyousou-sama..."  
  
"What is it?" he asked softly.  
  
"Yuka says she wants to get married, but I don't actually think that's quite true. At least.... I mean, it seems more likes it's in the abstract sense. I don't think she's ever actually given any real thought to what her future spouse would be like."  
  
"She hasn't been on the market," Gyousou pointed out. "I'm sure it would have looked very odd if a supposedly very devoted spouse went about shopping for a husband while her current one was out of commission."  
  
Certainly it would have cost her, in terms of political power, seeing as nearly all of her authority to act came from her supposed devotion to her incapacitated husband.  
  
"It just doesn't seem..." taiki hesitated. "It's just that... she _fits_ here, Gyousou-sama."  
  
Gyousou watched in part-sympathy as his kirin tried to articulate what was on his mind.  
  
"I mean, she really _fits_ here. Even if its been stressful, I always got the feeling that she was happy on a deeper level here. She was vitally important, she helped people, none of her intelligence went to waste. It required courage, fire and intelligence to lead an empty throne, and I think deep down she likes the fact that she has what it takes to hold things together. She could be everything that it was inside of her to be because there was a situation that required what she was inside."  
  
"But, my dear Kouri, the situation will change," Gyousou reminded him gently. "I have returned, and Tai will be peaceful. Tell me truthfully, your Yuka is not a sort of woman who handles idleness very well, is she?"  
  
"She's a really good economist," Taiki said instead. "She always makes off the with better end of a bargain. She's very shrewd, you saw how she created that new market for gems in Han, those stone will be worth ten times what she could have gotten as a base-price for them if she's just introduced them to an ordinary old merchant, or even a noble. Introducing them on the world market adorning the emperor of Han will ensure that everyone knows that they're worth top-price and they will pay for it. And even if it's been a war involving prices and population... Yuka has been fighting a war, and she's every bit as good at it as Risai is on a battlefeild."  
  
"I am sure she is," Gyousou replied.  
  
Truth to tell, he felt more than a little bit envious that his kirin would speak so very highly of someone else to him. That is, he felt a little bit jealous that Taiki would speak so highly of someone who was not him. He knew it was silly, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel that way. He loved Taiki, he hoped, every bit as much as Taiki adored him...  
  
Taiki sighed and looked a bit frustrated with his kings apparent density.  
  
"Gyousou-sama," the kirin said with what sounded like belabored patience. "I am saying that she has been useful in times of "not-war" and would be even _more_ useful to you in times of peace. She lives for the challenge; as long as the game is facinating for her, she will want to play. All you have to do is present her with something that will catch and hold her interest."  
  
"She has earned the rest she so clearly desires," Gyousou felt obliged to argue. "I am already asking more of her than I want to. Do you see me as so weak that I cannot rule without her?"  
  
"It's not about weakness. Part of why I brought it up is that I'm worried about her."  
  
"Worried about her?" Gyousou questioned, curious.  
  
"She's done a lot, and for all the right reasons this time, but deep down I know she still worries what she could become if she doesn't have me around. I think that this wanting to break away is just her way of removing herself from what she perceives as real temptation. She still feels that deep down that she's a bad person who chases power for its own sake and will use it just because she can."  
  
"If she worries about it, then I'd say she doesn't have anything to worry about," Gyousou said kindly.  
  
"I want to keep her close because I know she's still afraid she'll make the wrong choice."  
  
"If you keep her close then she'll never have the chance to prove to herself that when offered the wrong choice, she can make the right one."  
  
Taiki sighed a bit, and ceded the argument to his kings clear-sighted wisdom.  
  
"I wish you were not so clearly right," he grumbled a bit.  
  
"I know you care about her, it is natural you should worry. Any good friend would worry about another," gyousou paused, and then reluctantly asked.  
  
"Do you think that I am too weak to rule without her?"  
  
"Of course not," Taiki said, as though Gyousou had asked him whether he thought that water might flow uphill tomorrow.  
  
"That's good then," he said. "I think we have talked enough of your friend for now. Tell me about what you did while I was asleep..."  
  
For the next hour, Taiki filled his kings ears with some more of the things that he had done while they had been separated. It was clear that he had missed Gyousou while he'd been away and some small envious part of Gyousou was quieted when he heard that despite everything that he and Yuka had accomplished together, Taiki had missed him more than anything.  
  
...  
  
Taiki went off to bed after a little while and Gyousou felt a bit of fatherly sadness that his kirin was no longer so small that he could be carried to his chamber and put to bed like a young son. Still there was some other business that he had to attend to. There were last-minute arrangements for the upcoming campaign of course, but more than that.  
  
"Your majesty, I have brought what you requested," Risai said with a sharp relishing smile.  
  
"Thank-you general," the king said with an aknowledgeing nod of his head.  
  
He examined the edge of the sword she presented him. It was a well-balanced blade, plain, but serviceable. He could feel the spell on the touki hum ever so softly in his hands, it was set at maximum. The sword would not kill his opponent, but Risai had assured him that a kill strike usuing the non-lethal weapon was going to hurt... a lot.  
  
 _:Certainly, this short punishment is much better than he deserves for his offences,_ : Gyousou thought irritatedly.  
  
"We've still time for you to change your mind, Your Majesty. There are plenty of true blades here about that beg to be used on him. There's n need to show such mercy to a man like this," General Risai said, clearly feeling that punishing that shuukou's addresses to the Royal Consort with the leniency of a non-lethal strike was being too generous, but she was loyal enough to Gyousou that she wasn't going to argue with him over what punishment he might feel was fitting to the crime.

Gyousou had not forgotten about the behavior he had seen from the Shuukou of Ba Province. Likely he was not the only shuukou that had insulted the Royal Consort over the years, but he was the only one that Gyousou had witnessed, and certainly the worst offender. Insults on a woman's character, and particularly upon the character of the Royal Consort, was considered an indirect slander on him, and he was obliged to answer the insult. In this case it was an obligation he would see to with some small pleasure.

"In a few hours time, General, I will be at war with the Northern Provinces. My blade will taste plenty of blood then. My heart is already heavy enough with having to fight against my own people. Even if he is a worthless man, I do not feel it is neccessary to shed more blood before the hour comes," Gyousou replied.  
  
The shuukou of Ba was escorted (none too gently for he was not well-liked by the Palace Guard) to the practice salle that they would be using to house their bout. Korosai saw his king, standing within the ring wearing simple garb and testing the edge of his blade, and the color drained right from the man's face. Gyousou's prowess as a fighter in single combat was nearly legendary. He had held his own against the king of En, the second oldest ruler in the world, one match out of three.  
  
 _:And if I'd had even three hundred years to study the blade, I would not loose!:_ Gyousou thought to himself.  
  
The guards prevented Ba-shuukou from escaping when he turned to bolt. Likely he thought that he was looking at his execution. If it had been even the previous king, he would have been looking at his execution, and he would not have even gotten a fighting chance. Gyousou knew that some of the guards were privately wondering if thier king was being merciful or indulging in a secret sadistic streak by pretending to give the man a fighting chance.  
  
"Pick up the blade," Gyousou commanded him.  
  
Shaking, the province lord did so.  
  
"You know why we are here," the king continued steadily. "I am aware that the others have likely insulted her over the time I have been away, but I have not heard them do so. I have heard you. So, fairly or not, you are the one who will be made to answer. Your invitations to sexual congress with my Royal Consort are demeaning and I am not amused."  
  
"S-sire! I-!"  
  
"I would save your breath to defend yourself."  
  
Gyousou attacked. Despite the man having been chosen by Asen as the shuukou of Ba Province for his prowess with the military as well as his self-interested bribability, he was not, in Gyousou's opinion much of a fighter. Gyousou was partly tempted to draw the fight out the way a cat might toy with a mouse, it had been a long time since he'd gotten to fight, but he had other things that needed doing that night, so he had to make it quick. With a charge, a wrench, a twist and a spin-strike his opponent was disarmed, with his blade stuck point down in the dust three feet away, and "dead" from having been "decapitated." Of course he wasn't actually dead because the weapon that Gyousou had chosen to use was one of the winter blades that did no lasting harm. Korosai's head was still on his shoulders but the long scream of pain as the spell on the touki told him of the deathblow made it sound like he was wishing that that wasn't the case. He was on his back, writhing and screaming in agony. He looked like a man undergoing excruciating torture. After a short time, Gyousou asked Risai in an aside  
  
"Does it normally take this long for a deathblow-warning to subside?"  
  
If so, it seemed like much of the training time would be wasted writhing in agony. Risai smiled sharply.  
  
"I may have modified the spell on your blade just a bit for the occassion."  
  
Gyousou tried not to feel a little amused by that as he shook his head a bit ruefully. He did feel a bit bad about the man's very obvious pain, (Taiki would certainly never approve of such treatment, but what the kirin didn't know wouldn't hurt him) but he also felt that he fully deserved it. If Gyousou had been the previous king, that man would have been dead.  
  
Gyousou left him there on the ground to wait out the end of the deathblow-shock in agony while he went on to the other matters that needed to be attended to before he left in the morning.


	23. Igitur Qui Desiderat Pacem, Praeparet Bellum 	(Therefore whoever desires peace, let him prepare for war)

Yuka had had to try very hard not to feel flustered when Gyousou Saku had taken down her hair for her in order that she would not become tangled in the branches of the bower where Taiki had hidden himself away. She was unaccustomed to men being allowed close enough to touch her person, for the last fifty years the only ones allowed within an arms length of her were her trusted maids and Taiki (who didn't quite count since he was, in fact, a kirin). Her servants had carefully disassembled the elaborate, multi-layered daixishuan that she'd worn to court and tipped her into the hot bath they'd had waiting for her so they could scrub off all the makeup. She emerged an hour later clean and dressed in her most comfortable old ruqun with her hair back in a simple braid, redy for a nice quiet evening in her own quarters for a change. Gyousou could see to the running of his own government so far as she was cncerned, she could finally get back to that book she had been coveting.  
  
 _:Ah-ha! Now I can get to my book!:_ she thought triumphantly to herself as she turned eagerly to her favorite reading couch. After all, tomorrow she would be taking up her duties as the Royal Thronewarmer so she was going to be very busy for quite some time, thus she wouldn't get another opportunity to read it until the king returned. Considering all she had done up until that point, Yuka figured she had earned the respite.  
  
She had been about to flip back to the place where she had left off when there came a firm knock at her door.  
  
"His majesty requests the presence of the Royal Consort to discuss affairs of State," a voice of one of the room servants that served Seiden Palace announced after one of Yuka's security maids answered the knock.  
  
She was very tempted to tell him to go tell his king to bugger off, but didn't quite dare.  
  
 _:Damn, so much for my book,_ : she thought with resignation.

She sighed and got up, reluctantly putting the book she so badly wanted to read back on the table, with equal reluctance she had a maid help her to exchange the comfortable clothes she'd picked for an evening in for a slightly more formal shenyi that would not be out of place for a visit to Seiden Palace. Seiden Palace was abuzz with activity. Men and women wearing the armor that officers of the Forbidden Army wore to battle were rushing to and fro calling out orders. Officials in the black imperial robes of court were settled in knots with scrolls, discussing matters of government and logistics. In the center of the chaos, bent over a strategy table, was the king of the country, dressed in his black imperial armor with a very fine sword strapped to his side. He looked well suited to being in armor, Yuka had to admit privately, very well-suited indeed.  
  
"Ah, good to see you made it," he said upon sighting her. He gestured to the two men beside him, whom she was already familiar with. "I know you've met General Banlai and General Kousou."  
  
"Gentlemen," she said with a small bow and a smile to them.  
  
"Lady Yuka," they replied with a respectful bow to her.  
  
These men were two soldiers who had joined her along the way during her campaighn against Asen many years ago. They were a study in opposites, Banlai, the General of the Left, was a tall dark swarthy man, built like a bear, from the very north of Tai with a large beard and a barrel chest. Kousou, the General of the Center, by contrast, was a tall reedy man who looked like he should be holding a pen rather than a sword, but his intelligence when it came to strategy and logistics was paralleled by very, very few. At one point they'd both been part of her personal guard, she had fought alongside them both, which was how she knew better than anyone that aside of fighting against thier enemies those two enjoyed little more than arguing with each other.  
  
"Now don' ya worrit yehrself, Missus," General Banlai reassured her, his strong northern accent coloring his speech. "Ya ken His Majesty has already told us the plahn, and we're ooulready after handin' down the orders tae our oown people. After so long dancin' aboot the bush, we're all good an' ready tae have it oout finalleh!"  
  
Indeed," Kousou agreed in his erudite tones. "This city will be readied to last out the seige in no time at all. Our fortifications are currently being prepared and we have already augmented our stores within the walls with the reserves from the under-keeps. Our soldiers are currently being distributed to thier particular fortifications."  
  
"The hardest part about a seige," Yuka replied in a reminding tone. "Is not the seige itself. Seiges take a great mental toll on those who are trapped within the walls. When the time comes, I will be more than prepared to boost the people's morale and I hope you will cooperate with me."  
  
"It depends on the plan you have," Kousou said cautiously. "We are both charged with your safety milady, we would do nothing that would risk you."  
  
"I'll keep that in mind," Yuka agreed with a small smile.  
  
"Cahm oof it mon," Banlai said with a staggering buffet on his fellow general's shoulder. "The Missus here is nae one tae hide hersel' when the war-drums sound. Yeh ken as well as I do that when the walls are manned, she'll be after manning them right along wi' us."  
  
Banlai sounded like he was actually thrilled with the idea. When Yuka had marched on the campaign against Asen's forces when they'd first retaken the kingdom, it was General Banlai who had encouraged Yuka's more odd and unconventional strategies. However, General Kousou had developed a rapore with Yuka as well based around his firm grasp of logistics.  
  
"His Majesty has made it clear that her safety is our responsibility," Kousou replied in a cautionary tone. "If you sneak her out to those walls again Banlai, it'll be the king you answer to and not General Risai."  
  
"Not awake for a week yet and he's already ruining my fun," Yuka said softly with amusement.  
  
"You have said yourself that you are no military strategist, I hope in this case you will be advised by your generals," Gyousou Saku said firmly. "And don't do anything rash. You know how Kouri worries, and he will fret himself into a state if he hears any reports of you getting injured. Please try to restrain yourself."  
  
She turned to Gyousou.  
  
"Are there any instructions you wish to leave with me?" she changed the subject.  
  
Gyousou gave her a long look, noticing perfectly well that she had not answered his cautions.  
  
"I have them here," he said, handing her a rolled up scroll. "I intend to move quickly, but all the same I hope that you will be diligent in keeping me appraised of matters here in the palace."  
  
"I'll send you a weekly report," Yuka said. "I hope you'll entrust me with smaller on-going affairs, but the larger matters I'll send on to you  immediately by seichou and you can have them handled as you see fit."  
  
Gyousou nodded, only partly paying attention, for a new messenger had just arrived from his air corps with an updated map of enemy troop movements taken by night-time air-scouts crossing the border into "enemy" territory.  
  
In Ba Province it looked like they had all but abandoned the coastline and the lowlands that made up most of the middle of the province in favor of concentrating almost the entirety of their forces on the more easily defensible fortifications of the mountain range that stretched north-south down along their eastmost border, between Ba and Zui. The bulk of the range actually spread out over the broken terrain of Bun Province but stabbed downward along the northern border between Ba and Zui, the tallest mountain in the range was the one that Hakkei Palace rested on.  
  
"It seems they've taken the bait sir," Risai noted, sounding pleased. "The western shores are only defended by blue units, and there are only a few fortified military bases in the lowlands of Ba Province, and those too are only manned by blue units."  
  
"But they have yellow, white and black units all stationed in defensible garrisons along the border to Zui Province," Yuka pointed out, mystified as to how precisely he intended to win a war in which an enemy was stationed in strength just on the other side of two borders. "Zui Province isn't very big, and it's not a long march from the Ba border to the capitol city. It's even less a march for all of those black units assembled along the south-west border of Jou Province to the northeast of Kouki. If the two of them decide to meet up, the capitol and Whitejewel Palace are going to be caught right in the middle and attacked on both sides. We couldn't hold them off for very long."  
  
"A good point," Gyousou acknowldged to her with an approving nod. "And with a provincial army stationed along the western border and the massed troops of two provincial armies stationed to the northwest, normally it would be a strategic nightmare to try to hold off an attack on both fronts."  
  
"I hope this means you have a plan," Yuka said.  
  
"I can guarantee that Kouki will only be attacked on one front. Granted, the forces attacking you will be the numerically stronger of the two possibilities. By that I mean that the ones that come from the combined strength of the Jou and Bun Provincials will sweep out of the north, intent on looting and pillaging no doubt. But the ones from the north will be the only ones you will have to worry about."  
  
"Why would Ba Province hold back when they could combine their strength with Jou and Bun and take down the walls for certain? I already know that that province has no quarrel with the other two so its not like it will hold back out of spite."  
  
"The soldiers garrisoned at the forts in the mountain ranges on the border of Ba will remain in place because they will not have any other choice," Gyousou said firmly.  
  
The spot on the map that noted where Hakkei Palace and the capitol city of Kouki were located had six black markers on it, denoting that there were a full six black units stationed at that location. Yuka knew that the forbidden army, which was the army that guarded the palace made up three of those black units, and the capitol province army for Zui province made up the other three black units. At the northern border of the province of Ran, to the south of them, there were five white markers assembled. Located in the usual forts, cities and garrisons in the rest of the southern provinces there were all blue markers signifying that there was limited guard stationed there, enough to see to Youma and most small emergencies that might happen in the provinces.  
  
"I am taking the Palace Guard of the Right of the Forbidden Army with me and leaving the Left and Center to defend Hakkei Palace and the Imperial City," Gyousou informed her, removing a black marker from the six assembled in the spot for Hakkei Palace. "In addition to the troops of the Forbidden Army, I will be borrowing a white unit from the capitol province army. To augment these troops, each of the other four provinces already under my banner has sent a white unit for the campaign."  
  
He gestured to the four white units stationed at the northern border of Ran Province. Then he pointed out the blue and few white markers still stationed all over the five south provinces of Zui, Sui, Ran Chou and Ki.  
  
"The rest of the forces for the provincial armies I've ordered stationed at strategic points to help maintain the peace and act as auxillary support should the need arise."  
  
"That only gives you a little under sixty-three thousand soldiers for your campaign," Yuka pointed out. "The staging area along the border between Jou and Bun would suggest that Bun Jou and Ie have each donated two of thier three Black Units to the cause, leaving only one behind to guard thier home grounds. That gives them about seventy-five thousand troops to attack with. I know they can't move quickly in all the snow, but neither can you."  
  
"Thier homeguard wouldn't need great strength in numbers during the winter," Risai explained to her. "When there is snow on the ground and the weather is unpredictable, it makes it difficult to wage war even for a skilled general. It is almost logical to say that they feel that they can safely spend the risk, troop deployment in three to four feet of snow has many challenges and doesn't happen quickly. They probably feel that they can safely leave a minimal guard behind and employ thier main forces attacking Kouki and Hakkei Palace without great fear of reprisals."  
  
"Okay, I understand all of that," Yuka said a little impatiently. "What I want to know is how they are _wrong_. They know that deployment in the snow is a logistical nighmare, so I'd feel confident about leaving behind a minimal guard to defend the home base too if I were them."  
  
"His majesty has ordered the fifty-thousand troops supplied by Zui, Ran, Sui, Chou and Ki provinces to assemble in Ran Province under the pretext of some kind of formal event being held there. Meanwhile he will take the black unit of the forbidden army and split it into a blue unit and a white unit. The lesser half of the troops I will take over the border west of here and engage the garrisons of Ba Province at Tenjou pass and the rest of the mountain garrisons. We'll pretend to lay seige to them and keep them busy."  
  
Risai took removed the single black marker from the board and replaced it with a blue one and a white one, the blue one she moved to the western border where the garrison at tengjou pass was marked the white one she moved south to the harbor in Ran Province.  
  
"His Majesty will take the greater half of the Forbidden Army's black unit and load them up onto the ships in the harbor in Ran and sail them north to take the western shoreline of Ba Province at Kaitou Fortress, then march through the lightly defended heartland, taking the provincial capitol, and then continue his march west after seeing that his chosen Provincial Governor is safely in place."  
  
"Meanwhile, we predict that the enemy troops gathered on the northeast border of the Capitol Province, the coallition of Jou, Bun and Ie provinces will move on what they perceive to be my opening bid to reconquer the four northern provinces starting with Ba."  
  
"Won't they call their troops back to defend their territory if they think you're going to attack them?" Yuka asked.  
  
"No," Gyousou said with firm conviction. "The northern armies are not provincial armies any more, they are in fact under Asen's command."  
  
"Ah, I see. So since you're back in the saddle so to speak, and the four northern shuukou have already served their purpose and are no longer useful as puppet rulers, Asen sees no need to keep up the ruse that his army are Provincial Guards rather than troops under his banner. I guess the gloves are coming off."

Gyousou shot her a perplexed look for her outworldish turn of phrase and Yuka clarified that it meant that he would no longer be lenient or attempt to hide his true purposes.  
  
"Since there is no longer any point in pretending, Asen will move openly now," Gyousou continued. "He believes that it is my intent to retake the northern provinces one by one in my opening manuever, thus he will decide that now is the time to strike at a relatiely undefended capitol. He will perceive that my campaign in the to bring the Northern Provinces to heel will strip the capitol and Palace of the majority of its defenses and he will order his massed troops moved southward to overtake the capitol."  
  
Gyousou moved six enemy black units, two from each of the three provinces participating in the future seige, down south to surround the northern half of the city of Kouki.  
  
"You will be able to defend the capitol easily with five black units and a white unit," he assured her. "They will only outnumber you by a few hundred, perhaps a thousand at most. A near-even match in an open batle, the city's defenses should make it relatively easy to hold them off."  
  
"I think you should take more than just a white unit of the Zui provincials," Yuka replied. "Asen won't attack if he doesn't think you're serious about moving in on northern territory. He has to feel you've committed your forces or he won't commit his. If he holds back and splits his forces to shore the defenses in the north, _then_ you'll have to beard the dragon in his den, and fight them where he has the advantage. Take a full black unit from the Capitol Province Guard, that will bring your numbers up to sixty five thousand for the norther campaighn. I can still easily defend Kouki with four black units to Asens six, they'll only outnumber us by a third and the city's fortifications will account for at least that much. Frankly, that's less people that I will have to feed in case your fight takes longer than you anticipate."  
  
Gyousou smiled at her a little.  
  
"It is generous of you Lady Yuka, and if you feel confident that you can manage without them, I will not argue," he said warmly as he made adjustments on the board. "It's not likely that we can count on taking the zui-Ba border garrison's surprise at the edge of Ba so I've decided that I'm just going to avoid engaging them altogether. Once I've taken the heartland and the provincial capitol, I'll leave behind a small peacekeeping force, probaly a blue unit to secure the capitol--"  
  
"Have you chosen the next shuukou of Ba Province?" Yuka asked interestedly.  
  
"I have," Gyousou replied readily as he slid a paper with the credentials of his choice over an unoccupied surface of the strategy table to her. Yuka picked it up and scanned the neat, masculine lettering.  
  
"This one?" she questioned after a moment, looking at him in surprise.  
  
She was familiar with Rou Hokudai. He was actually the leader of a conservative faction within the court, one that had on occassion given her some small difficulties. His faction was not quite an ally, but not an enemy either. They hated the continuous rebellion by the shuukou of the north, seeing it as a  revolt against the natural law of heaven, however, likewise did they not particularly care for the court led by a co-leadership of Taiho and Royal Consort. They felt her authority was only slightly above board so they gave in grudgingly and only when they had to. Yuka had been forced by neccessity on several occassions to play politics with them to gain concessions for the things that she wanted done. Hokudai's conservative faction hated a number of the changes in the southern economy that her bloodless war brought about and they fought her tooth and nail on many of the programs she tried to push through the royal court, she could understand their dislike of change but at the same time she couldn't help but be frustrated at the man for thwarting her.  
  
"No offense your majesty but would you care to explain your choice of appointment because I don't see how appointing him will help anyone."  
  
"You've proven an astute politician Lady Yuka," Gyousou said, sounding almost surprised. "Surely you see the benefits to my choice on a political level. Hokudai has several things to reccomend him as a choice, his very conservativeness will make him fit in well with the prevailing attitude in that part of the kingdom. He's more likely to be hailed as a liberator than met with resistance."  
  
"I suppose there is that," Yuka agreed reluctantly. "And even if he dislikes change, one thing I can say about him is that he always has the best interests of his kingdom at heart. I could wish, however, that he would be more sensible about allowing foreign trade and embassies within this nations borders."  
  
Youko had approached her about the possibility of a permanent embassy with its own ambassador and Yuka had been delighted with the idea, but the conservatives, headed by Rou Hokudai, had shot it down before it even left the ground.  
  
"Tai is an island nation," Gyousou reminded her, sounding almost amused by the fact she was put out about it to this day.  
  
"So is Japan," she replied absently as she continued to read over the rest of Gyousou's picks for Hokudai's understaff. "But that didn't stop it from becoming one of the world leaders in exports. Like it or not, there are other kingdoms in this world besides our little corner, I think we should have more to do with each other."  
  
"You say that because you seem to be personal friends with another kingdom's ruler," he said, sounding like he was teasing her.  
  
"I say that because Tai relies on trade," Yuka argued. "We've a long winter, a harsh climate, thin soil and a short growing season. If we don't want to starve, we need income. An embassy with a permanent ambassador would make trade agreements much easier and more frequent, plus it would increase the kingdoms ties with the nations it trades with."  
  
"I do see the benefits, but I'm pretty sure you lost your support when you said something about ceding a little peice of foreign soil on Tai's surface."  
  
"It's only large enough for the embassy building," Yuka grumbled.  
  
She looked back over the royal appointment a sighed a little bit. This was the sort of thing she had wanted to do for many decades and had been limited by the mandate of heaven from doing. Only the rightful king could appoint new members to his administration. She'd been wanting to get rid of those northern shuukou for years!  
  
"Who else have you chosen?" she asked curiously.  
  
Gyousou handed her the other scrolls. Yuka nodded in approval at most of the rest of his choices (three of whom she had been quietly grooming for the purpose) but the choice for Bun Province was surprising.  
  
"Ryuurien Sendai?" she asked, surprised. "Isn't he a little..." she didn't want to say _crazy,_ but... "Eccentric?" she at last settled on.  
  
He was the black sheep of a noble family that was noted for their military brilliance. In a family of five straight top-ranked officers, Ryuurien was the only wandering minstrel. He had taken the imperial exam at the age of fifteen and came in first, then promptly wandered off to perform in a tavern in Kouki instead of showing up to accept his new post. He was strange by all reports, and had a decidedly odd way of looking at the world. Not long on common sense, but somehow, Yuka wasn't sure if it was fate, accident or mad intuition, he always seemed to wind up in the middle of many of the situtations she'd moved to improve. He wandered wherever he wanted to but always seemed to be doing things that wound up helping Tai in its own weird way.  
  
"Eccentric, but brilliant," he replied.  
  
"Brilliant, but unpredictable," she added.  
  
"Unpredictable, but not unreliable," he argued back.  
  
Yuka had to grant him that, however  
  
"He'll probably get bored and wander off the side of the mountain, and when he rolls down he'll play some sort of strange off-tune song about spring and the glory of cheese. He's an odd one."  
  
"Nonetheless, you look pleased by the choice," Gyousou noted.  
  
"He's an odd one, but I _do_ like him," yuka agreed. "He doesn't seem to have a malignant bone in his body and if he's ever noticed when people insult him, he never pays it back with spite. How in the world is he going to run Bun Province? I worry they'll eat him alive."  
  
"Since he's so young relatively, I'll send him with a co-governor for his first few years," Gyousou reassured her. "After all, he's passed the imperial exams but not the higher level exams for a seat as the provincial governor."  
  
"That's good, and you've picked out Nori Ritsukai as his partner, she'll be a good balance for him. She's very down to earth."  
  
"I'm glad you approve," Gyousou said.  
  
Suddenly Yuka became aware of the impropriety of what she was doing. She was standing there discussing his choices with him, and questioning his judgement in some cases, as though she were still in her costomary place as acting co-regent and would still have a large say in the final decision. She had fogotten for a moment that Gyousou was the king, and did have the final authority in the matter. After the seige was broken, Yuka planned on going her own way, it wasn't supposed to be her concern anymore, and it certainly wasn't her place to question his choices.  
  
"Ah, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I had forgotten... Of course it's your decision to make."  
  
"You don't need to be uncomfortable around me," Gyousous said gently. "I welcome your opinions. You've served this kingdom to the best of your abilities for a long while and you certainly have a right to say what you feel if anyone does."  
  
"Well," Yuka said carefully. "It's nice to hear you say so. I hope that attitude continues in the future. It's good to be active, but it's also good to be able to listen openly as well. I wouldn't know half the things I do about Tai or how the people feel about my make-shift governing if I didn't take the time out to listen."  
  
But she smiled and saw the other side of it and quickly amended.  
  
"Then again, if I listened to half of the things that people said about me I suppose I'd never get out of bed in the morning."  
  
"Are you hurt by what people say about you?" he asked curiously.  
  
"Well, it's irritating," she allowed with a wry look. "But I look at it this way; it's not really what they're saying about me, thay don't actually know me. Part of it is that they're being manipulated by thier superiors and the other part is that they're mad at the situation and they need someone to blame. Since I'm the one who's sitting next to the throne curbing thier leaders enthusiasm, I'm a very good target."  
  
"You're certainly more reasonable than most would be about it," Gyousou replied. "I've met a lot of people who would have used the personal commentary as a reason to go after the commentors."  
  
"I've got bigger fish to fry," Yuka replied.  
  
There was a long pause, then Gyousou, with some apparent reluctance said  
  
"I _am_ sorry."  
  
 _:He even looks stern while he apologizes,:_ Yuka noted with what was quickly becoming fond amusement.  
  
"Geeze, keep this up and you're going to start to sound like your kirin," Yuka said in mock annoyance.  
  
"It is not fair," Gyousou insisted. "You should never have had to endure perfect strangers slandering your name or assassination attempts or... any of this."  
  
"Even though your Tentei clearly works hard to make it so, the universe still isn't a fair place even with his intervention," Yuka replied with a shrug. "Sometimes, you just play the hand you're dealt and try to make the best of it. Besides... just imagine if the universe were fair, then all of the terrible things that happen to us would be because we actually dserved it."  
  
"Now there's a thought," Gyousou said dryly.  
  
"Always look on the bright side of life," Yuka agreed with equal dryness.  
  
There was another small pause as Yuka looked for something to say next. She'd already overstepped herself inadvertantly by discussing politics with him, and she'd simply die before she ever told him what she'd thought about him eariler that evening. She'd found herself thinking that he looked very cool and kingly sitting on the throne and handling matters. She'd even found herself feeling reassured that Kaname would live a long and happy life with Gyousou as his king.  
  
 _:But it's early days yet,:_ she reminded herself. _:There's still plenty of time for some other fatal flaw to show itself. But, I suppose, at least he's not lazy!:_  
  
And as far as she could see his decisions seemed to be good ones so far. He seemed like a clear-sighted and sensible man, but one who knew enough that a rule had to have teeth or no-one would respect it. However he was also merciful and that was reassuring. He had let the other Shuukou live when he didn't really have to, in fact, Yuka rather thought that there were many who questioned why he would have stayed his hand when they had all clearly flouted his rule and the Laws of Heaven, but personally she felt even more reassured by his mercy. His punishment was just as harsh as it needed to be and no harsher.  
  
 _:I guess in this case I'll just have to let Kaname say 'I told you so':_ Yuka thought.  
  
"We've covered the war strategy and upcoming politics," Yuka said. "Was there anything else you needed me for?"  
  
"I am concerned that you may be unaware of the risk you take upon yourself by agreeing to act as bait. Asen is scheming, vengeful and petty. I have removed Kouri from his reach, and if he is unable to take his vengeance out on me, then he will choose you as a more available target. As long as you guard the throne, you will be in danger."  
  
"I have never _not_ been in danger, your majesty," Yuka replied. "Placing myself as the main obstruction to power keeps those same powers from targeting Kaname. This is merely an extension of that, and at least in this case he will be acting openly. It is harder to dodge knives in the dark than armies ascending the mountain."  
  
"A point," he allowed. "But even if you do this willingly, it bothers me still to put you in this position. My pride as a man, a king, and a general is taking a beating."  
  
"Well good, at least you're not in danger of succumbing to hubris then."  
  
"Promise me that you will be careful," he said. "Kaname clearly loves you as dearly as family, and I would feel terrible were my ploy to fail and I had to present your body to him."  
  
"He's a kirin, at least show him my ashes, you know that kirin are sensitive to blood," Yuka said, switching the topic a little because she wasn't sure how to take his expression of concern for her, even if it was on behalf of his kirin. Yuka had lived for decades never letting anyone but the kirin close to her, she was so out of practice with matters like that that she was uncertain how to respond to his concern.  
  
"I hope you will have a care for your own life," he said seriously. "I have not known you long, but I too would be saddened if anything were to happen to you. I would hate to loose any future opportunities of redressing the debt between us."  
  
Somehow the usual response Yuka had developed over time of bowing politely and thanking someone for thier concern seemed overly formal and somehow false. However, now lacking a default mode, she wasn't quite certain how to respond.  
  
"I'll try to take care," she managed after a moments consideration. "You be careful too, Gyousou Saku, Kaname would be heartbroken to loose you after waiting for you for so long. I... I too am looking forward to seeing the kingdom you two will create. That, and I have a bet on with Youko about whether or not you'll live up to people's memories of you."  
  
Gyousou was clearly brought up short by that.  
  
"For or against?" he demanded, frowing in offence.  
  
Yuka just smiled and said  
  
"That's for me to know and you to guess about."  
  
"Cheeky," he muttered, but didn't sound angry about it.  
  
"I can't deny that," Yuka nodded with a smile.  
  
"I was curious," he said hesitantly, after a moments internal debate. "What are you planning to do after I've finished my campaign?"  
  
"Well, due to circumstances, I haven't been able to leave Whitejewel Palace in about fifty years. The most of what I know about Tai has been political dealing, economic mapping based on what each region produces, and some scattered conversations with the people that live there."  
  
"Ah yes, General Risai has mentioned your Cultural Days," Gyousou said, sounding amused.  
  
"I didn't grow up here and neither did Taiki so we had to have some way of keeping our finger on the pulse of the people. You can't lead a people you can't connect with, at least that's how we see things. Anyway, I basically only know the facts and figures, I want to tour about and actually see the places so they become real to me and not just points on a map or data on a scroll. I want to stroll down a street in Gyuten, and visit the marketplaces in Sen, I want to bathe at the onsen in Bun and take a trip on the skyways, and hunt in the Dragon's Maw for coldwarg and--."  
  
"I was with you right up until the last one," Gyousou said. "You may wish to rethink that particular venture. I'm not sure you've heard this, but coldwarg are mean, nasty creatures possessed of more claws, teeth and bulk than any three ordinary youma put together."  
  
"Sounds about right," Yuka said with an anticipatory smile.  
  
Gyousou loked over at her with surprise apparent on his face.  
  
"You hunt youma?"  
  
"Back when I worked for the former king of Kou he had me sharpen my skills as a fighter by basically putting me in a pit to fight youma gladatorial style."  
  
"I've never heard that last phrase, but I'm getting a sense of a paid fighting match."  
  
"In my case it was closer to a melee battle, sometimes there was more than one youma to deal with. I had a hinma inhabitting me, and the battles were to train my reflexes so that when it was time to strike my body would move the way it was supposed to."  
  
"Your past victories aside, I think you will find that dealing with youma in a contained environment is vastly different than dealing with them in the wild. I've tracked and captured suuguu in the Yellow Sea before and believe you me, it's different. Not only do they have superior strength and speed but the advantage of terrain."  
  
Yuka took a long moment to consider his words.  
  
"That's good advice," she said with a firm nod, bowing to him in thanks for his caution and advice. "I will take a guide to accompany me on my hunt the first few times."  
  
Gyousou burst out laughing. Yuka's brow furrowed in puzzlement.  
  
"What is so funny?" she demanded.  
  
"Simply," he said, getting his amusement under control. "That you look so small and delicate, and you say things like 'dealing with the military is inelegant' and yet at the first opportunity, you want to go hunt youma for sport."  
  
"You realize of course that this whole elegant lady business is partly an act," she reminded him. "I want my enemies to underestimate me so that I can get their measure but they won't know mine."  
  
"You are a surprising young woman," he said honestly.  
  
"Pift, I'm an old granny, I should be whacking people with my cane," Yuka said humorously, then her look turned a bit serious.  
  
"I'm hesitant to bring this up but..."  
  
"Please speak your mind," Gyousou said firmly.  
  
"Since you're going to Ren Province anyway, perhaps you would keep your eyes open for something, or I should say better that forewarned is forearmed in this case."  
  
Yuka was fidgeting a bit trying to think of a way to put things politely.  
  
"You may as well come to the point," Gyousou said with dry humor. "I know you can be direct when it suits you."  
  
Yuka nodded and stated it firmly.  
  
"The ruler of Ryuu, Jo Rohou, has been in a long, slow decline these many decades. I believe that the case in Ryuu is similar to the situation here in Tai only... Well, nevermind. I'll just put it out there. I think the king has gone to the bad, but he is fortunate in that he has a son, Prince Enga, who is the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Fall.  His son handles the law in that kingdom. Though the officials and court has become corrupt, I believe the Prince sees to it that his ministry and the people uphold the Laws of Heaven. In short, his son is propping up the throne. I don't know this officially, of course, and I've never once exchanged correspondence with either of them... it's just a hunch. Anyway, I thought you should know about it because you're headed along that coastline and there's been a lot of youma flooding over from the destabilized region."  
  
"Thank you for the warning," he said courteously. "It is a shame about the Blade-king, he's been ruling for over a century."  
  
"Well, closer to two now," Yuka pointed out. "You're missing fifty years."  
  
"I had forgotten, it will take some adjustment," Gyousou said ruefully. "It's strange, it is unusual for a decline to last so long once it starts."  
  
"I think that the king is one of those types who tends to backslide or fall into bad habits. What I've observed of his rule from rumors and trade reports is that when he's good he's really good. I've heard that his ability to handle a natural disaster or deal with youma is all but unparalleled, but he seems prone to resting on his laurels. He's good at putting systems into place, and those systems really work well, but the thing about systems is that they can't respond to everything; situations change. He's good at getting things into place, but disinterested in monitoring things to make sure that they don't break down. I think that's why it's taking Heaven so long to decide one way or another about whether he gets fired. That and I'm sure his son is running along behind him trying to keep things going under for his fathers sake."  
  
"I see. It is a pity about the youma, and about Ryuu. And by the by, when did we start trading with them?"  
  
"About the same time Youko, I mean Kei-ou, started trading with the new ruler of Kou. Maybe, thirty or so years ago? We trade sap-glass and water-silk in exchange for their knowledge of structural engineering. It was a team of geologists from Ryuu that told us which rock-beds it was safest to put the towers for the skyways on."  
  
"I've heard that many of thier cities are built either partly or entirely underground," Gyousou replied, nodding to himself.  
  
"I've heard that too, it's one of the things on my long list of things I'd like to see."  
  
"With any luck you will be free to see them all before too much longer."  
  
"I know you're eager to get started and have everything settled, but don't push too hard," Yuka cautioned as she bowed and prepared to depart to her own chambers. "It's good to be decisive and I appreciate that you're as worried for Kaname's sake as I am, but try to look after yourself too, otherwise he'll only worry more about you while you're out there in the field."  
  
"Thank you for your care," Gyousou said with obvious prefunctory politelness. It was clear to Yuka that being cautious was the last thing on his mind.  



	24. Aut Cum Scuto Aut In Scuto 	(either with shield or on shield)

The weight of his armor as he donned it piece by piece in the brightening grey light before dawn felt like an old friend. His kirin crouched in a chair nearby, curled into a ball with his arms wrapped around his legs, watching him with sad liquid grey eyes. Gyousou felt like he was kicking a puppy.  
  
Just as Kouri knew better than to ask him once again to stay a little longer, the king knew better than to ask his kirin not to look so sad when he was going away. He knew that Taiki could not help but be sad. Truth to tell, he was a little sad as well. He did not like the situation for a lot of reasons. He did not like the necessity of sending his kirin away to safety while he pacified the countriside, he did not like that Kouri was made unhappy, he did not like that he was forced to fight his own countrymen, people he was sworn to protect, he did not like that it was neccessary to put the girl and the capitol city up on the haystack as a target to draw out his enemy, he did not like that others must suffer for his earlier mistake.  
  
 _:What cannot be helped cannot be helped, but if I must correct myself for a thousand years I will not fail Tai again,_ : Gyousou promised himself.  
  
He would take the troubles of his people in his hands, and he would erase the sorrows from his kirin's eyes. Danger, strife and devisiveness would be erased from the land. These things he promised himself as he slid his sword and scabbard into its place by his side and strode out of Seiden Palace toward Seiden Gate, the gateway that led from the private quaters of the royal family to the wide open, paved castle forecourt. The forecourt was the place where he had ordered the heads of his armies and personal guard to assemble and make ready to move out. His assembled military officers had assumed thier formation, ready to march on his orders. He paused at the threshold, appreciating the sight of the early morning sun glinting off the armor of his troops and the barding on thier flying mounts. Banners snapped in the breeze and the rising sunlight glinted off armor and the metal fittings of the air calvalry. Spread out before him, the massed upper officers of the armies that he would take with him into battle snapped to attention at the sight of thier liege. The single shout of acknolwledgement as his soldiers knelt before him rang out into the air and seemed to make the ground tremble. Keito was already saddled and waiting looking as eagre as ever for a good fight. Gyousou descended the steps to mount his kijyuu and give the command for his forces to embark.   
  
"You've waited a long time for this," Gyousou muttered fondly to his faithful mount as he swung up into the saddle. He heard the beasts rumbling purr sound softly into the air.  
  
Taiki descended the steps and bowed to see his master off to his battle.  
  
"Please be safe, Gyousou-sama," he said softly, though his voice quavered with sadness at thier parting.  
  
"And you, be careful on your journey, Kouri. I hope you return safely and when you do we shall rule well together."  
  
"It's a promise!" Taiki said eagrely. "I know you never go back on your word."  
  
Gyousou smiled fondly at his kirin and nodded his head gravely, sealing the agreement between the two of them. He glanced around at the courtyard, half-expecting to see a splash of bright colors in amongst all of the black and silver of the imperial armor. His former wife had always seen him off, if only so that she could beg him one more time not to leave her. Those partings he'd had with Isana had always been hard for him to withstand, for he was weak against a woman's tears. He had not been able to lay aside his duty then, but it had always made his heart ache that his duty required her sacrifice. It seemed to be a reccurring difficulty in his life, for even now he had to leave behind his kirin in order for him to attend to his kingdom. He still felt sad that this duty was something that made his dear kirin sad.  
  
 _:Huh, it looks like the girl decided not to come,:_ Gyousou thought. He was surprised to feel a little disappointed by that.  
  
Risai mounted her own tenba, and the soldiers rose in preparation to move out. Her turned his mount back to the gate he had entered through, preparing to give his command for his army to go to war. There at the top of the steps that led down into the main courtyard the morning sun shone on a brilliant red shenyi. The Royal Consort stood at the top of the steps with her battlemaids arrayed on either side of her. Gyousou was forcibly reminded of the way his wife Isana had once come to see him off. The ladies descended the steps from Seiden Palace with purposeful deliberation, and fanned themselves before him in formation with Yuka to the fore and bowed properly. Gyousou inclined his head in return and braced himself for the tears.  
  
"I've prepared a gift for you," she said clearly, no evidence of crying in sight. Gyousou tried not to show visibly how relieved he was not to have to deal with a crying woman.  
  
One of her battlemaids pulled out a shield, enameld white and inlaid with silver in the painted-ink style outline of a dragon over a mountain. The dragon was the symbol of the emperor, and the white sheild... a Tetsui sheild. Clearly it had been designed to remind everyone of the story that had made him such a famous General. Yuka walked up to the side of his mount and presented it to him.  
  
"My thanks," he said, surprised and a little touched. "I will carry it with me."  
  
Then out of politeness, and for forms sake, he added  
  
"Is there anything you would have of me?"  
  
Unlike his dear kirin (and his former wife), there were no tears evident on Lady Yuka's face, she met his gaze clearly and with almost forceful directness said  
  
"Return with your shield, or on it!"  
  
With that, Lady Yuka pivotted on her heel and ascened the stairs to return to the inner palace without a backward glance. Gyousou was sort of left looking after her as she left, a little taken aback but also a bit inwardly pleased to know there was a capableperson in place minding the palace while he was away. Asen would be a formidable enemy for the both of them, but things were looking up.

"Prepare to move out!" Risai, General of the Center, gave the order.

His officers all looked like eager hunting dogs straining at the ends of thier leashes as they mounted and looked to him for his signal. Gyousou raised his arm and gave the command to depart. As though they were a startled flock of birds, the Forbidden Army with its proper king at the head of it, took to the skies, racing toward the east and thier first engagement there.


	25. Alea Iacta Est (the die has been cast)

Gyousou had known going into this that, even with a counter-strategy, Asen would not make this easy on him. If he were going to split the defensive forces left behind to guard the Provinces where he retained influence then he would naturally position them in the fortresses that had the best defensive capabilities. The troops led by General Risai Ryuushi were already on the westernmost border of Ba Province, engaging the forces that were entrenched in the fortresses along the border of Ba and Zui, the capitol province of Tai. He himself and the air forces under his command had by-passed the border and headed strait across the sky of Ba Province to the sea, until they reached the cliffs where the sea-outpost that guarded the easternmost border lay. That fortress was built to withstand seige and it guarded the only flat bit of beach in the fjord ridden coastline of Ba Province. There was a harbor hidden deep within the clefts that the fortress overlooked and guarded access to. Ten miles out to sea, Gyousou's navy waited with the thousands of land-troops he had assembled for his campaign anchored of the coast of a nearby group of islands.

"A clear day with little wind, a fine day for a battle," the captain of the vessel remarked to his king as they both stared through their spyglasses at the battlefield that lay before them.

The day might be fine for a battle but the positioning was not. The opposing force possessed the high ground, being positioned up on the top of the cliff, and it would be very difficult to deploy the land forces at Gyousou's command. The soldiers would first have to climb the cliff and then even worse, position themselves for a siege. The usual strategy with such disadvantages would have been to leave the battle to be fought in the air but Gyousou's air forces were spread a bit thin, what with the contingent that he'd had to leave behind to defend the capitol. Fortunately he had a plan.

"That'll be the signal then Your Majesty," the captain said a short while later as a beacon-fire was lit down the coast to the south.

"Signal the other ships to sail for the cliffs," Gyousou commanded. "And make ready the trebuchets."

"Aye!" the captain said willingly.

The plan was not without risk, not the least of them being that using catapults on sailing vessels rarely ended up well, but the Ministry of Winter had made improvements on the loading and unloading mechanism's modifying them so that they could be used as offensive weapons. There was still the fire to worry about (fire and wooden ships generally being considered a danger) but in this case the weighted oil-soaked wicker was sent out unlit instead of courting disaster by doing it the way it was done on land and lighting the shot before it was launched. Instead, archers with oil-soaked arrow heads and pots containing embers waited on the aft of the ship and as soon as the shot was in the air, they sent a flaming arrow out after it, igniting it in mid-flight and letting the wind and flame do the rest. The center of the wicker shot was not only filled with lead to give it the proper weight for shot but also with many sealed bottles filled with high-grade sake. When the shot landed, it would not only crash into the wall while on fire, but the any fire would spread out via the swiftly igniting alcohol. For some reason the Royal Consort called it "The Ultimate Cocktail."

The archers made ready and the engineers readied the launchers, the soldiers assigned to the ammunition’s rolled out the wicker wrapped weighted shot and began to carefully soak them with the flammable oil. The signal-men inhabited the crows nest to signal the other ships.

The opening volley was set up mainly to catch the fortress defenders off guard. Gyousou's ships, filled with a number of his land forces, moved forward until they were within range.

"We await your order," the head captain informed him once the ships were in position.

The fortress at the top of the cliff, called Kaitou (east sea) had been running with defenses manned for the last several days, ever since the ships that Gyousou had ordered assembled there had waited out off the coast. The skies were perpetually filled with kijyuu, patrolling the sky for attacks, and the walls defenses were manned by shifts of soldiers.

When they had reached the distance he wanted, Gyousou ordered the ships to slow and prepare for fire. When he received signals from all of the other ships that their weapons were fully ready and they were in position, he sharply gave the command to fire.

Truth to tell, it irritated him on many levels to give the command. Civil wars always troubled him deeply, and now so more than ever. he was the king of this nation, to have a nation that rebelled against him and the will of heaven was the same as saying that his countrymen had judged him unfit to rule. he knew, intellectually that these men and women who had arrayed against him were following the orders of a very clever and manipulative man who had convinced them all that Gyousou was somehow a false king, a usurper, but that did not alleviate the pain deep in his heart that he must wage battles against people he was supposed to protect.

:Not to mention that when I'm finished demolishing the fortress, I'm only going to have to rebuild it again later out of this kingdom's coffers,: he thought irritatedly.

Despite the relative economic stability of the north, Tai was still quite poor. Certainly they were no-where near the enormous prosperity known by the great kings of old.

:Thought the climate and land is harsh, Tai has been blessed by Heaven with everything it should need to bring great prosperity if the ruler is wise and does not squander its resources like the previous king did,: Gyousou thought to himself.

When he finished reconquering Ba, Ie, Bun and Jou Provinces, he planned to seize most of the ill-gotten assets that the corrupt shuukou had lined their own pockets with and put the wealth toward repairing the damage he was going to cause on his march through the rebel provinces.

The flaming spheres arced almost gracefully through the air, like comets, bursting into immolation upon contact with the walls. It was a shame that such destruction looked so beautiful. The way the flame seemed to hover in the air like setting suns, should not have looked beautiful. The catapults mounted on the walls of the fortress returned fire but, as Gyousou had expected, they used a heavier form of ammunition, a simple orb of rock or lead designed to go right through hulls and sink ships. Gyousou's ammunition was wicker wrapped around a core of lead (and flammable containers) making it lighter and able to travel greater distances.

:I feel almost bad for them,: Gyousou thought upon a moments reflection as the commanders at the top of the cliff impotently returned fire against a foe that was out of their range.

The flaming shot that Gyousous forces fired at them sailed up into the air then burst apart flooding the walls and sometimes the interior of the fortress with rippling sheets of fire. Of course it was not long before the commanders got smart and stopped trying to sink their vessels with ammunition that would not reach them. A mass of aerial troops took to the skies and swooped like kingfishers down the face of the cliff racing out along the sea with their riders possed of bows and ammunition to attack the ships directly. Gyousou gave another signal with his fan and the archers who were not set to set the flame-shot alight turned their arrows to the forces coming up fast on the ships prows. The air was soon filled with the whistling shriek of arrows as his forces moved to rid themselves of the threat of attack and the kijyuu riders tried to fell as many soldiers as they could before they were shot down. The whistle of arrows was occasionally punctuated by the scream of a soldier as arrows connected and fighters on both sides fell into the sea.

Soldiers rushed on decks with purposeful but unpanicked energy to put out the fires from the tips of enemy arrows before they could spread. The Imperial Army was well-trained and efficient, they had trained for years, some of them for decades, for this and they were eager the prove to themselves and the rest of the kingdom that Heaven graced them with a worthy king.

One of Gyousou's kuukoshi, hovering off to the left and using another spyglass, waved a purple flag to signal that the next phase of the operation was ready for deployment. Gyuosou in turn ordered his own captain to signal the other ships to deploy their first wave of fighters. Boats with five soldiers each and a large number of dummies dropped down the sides of the ships. They were decoys of course, something for the enemy to concentrate its attention and fire on. He'd left orders with the soldier who were manning the boats not to be heroes about this, if it looked like any of the enemy fire might hit, they were to abandon ship immediately and save their own skins. Even though it looked like it, those soldiers were not actually there to try to climb the cliffs and lay siege to the fortress, they were decoys. The real attack was going to come not from the air, nor from the beaches (at least not until later). Gyousou's forces had been divided in half, with the cavalry riding up from the southern border of Ran Province to attack and lay seige on the fortress Kaitou from the landward side.

:The fortress is built to withstand attacks from the air and by land but it is weaker on its seaward side. The troops are trained to fend off land-ward sieges and aerial attacks, but I'm betting they don't have a strategy in place for when a general attacks from all three directions,: Gyousou thought a little smugly.

Indeed there were shouts and the sound of a clarion bell ringing out a warning when his aerial scout sent up the red flag reporting that his cavalry was charging the landward gate of Kaitou fortress. Gyousou sent up his kuukoushi to assist in the attacks, mainly firing down flaming arrows into inconvenient locations within the fortress (and staying out of return-fire range) and keeping the siege-cavalry busy while they made ready to break down the gate.

The forces manning Kaitou fortress spent most of their attention now on the landward side but there were still enough soldiers manning the catapults to take out the remaining row-boats that he had sent as decoys. Dummies and real soldiers alike bobbed on the waves and slowly started swimming toward the harbor.

Gyousou ordered his navy to keep up the bombardment from their relatively safe purchase and waited patiently. His Kuukoushi scouts sent him regular reports on the progress of the siege from the landward side, though they risked a lot in doing so for the kuukoushi attached to kaitou Fortress were skilled and numerous, though most of their attention was now concentrated on the enemy a their gate.

Now came the hardest part for every general... the wait. He had yet to meet a general who really liked being so far away from all of the action. Tucked safe behind thier lines a general was responsible for the over all flow of the battle. The generals of either side were much like the two opposing players of shogi, each keeping constant track of their own strategy and the enemy's moves. Gyousou knew that these were not merely pieces on a board that every maneuver and counter-maneuver, that every strategy, whether successful or a failure meant lives lost.

As a general he could not afford to mourn them in the midst of this opening ploy but later, he knew, later as both general and king he would sorrow for them all.

:There are some days that I long for the times when I was a mere captain,: he thought slightly self-deprecatingly.

He'd always been an ambitious man, but now that he was a successful general, he often looked back and thought he should have enjoyed the time when he'd been a lesser ranked officer a little bit more than he had when he'd been going through it. In retrospect, things seemed so much simpler then. Certainly, when he'd been a captain, he had wished to gain greater rank and authority (and recognition) but every victory had truly been a victory back then. Now that he was a general and a king his view of victory and defeat changed. He always counted it a greater victory the fewer lives were lost, but every victory came with a taste of defeat, knowing that the lives lost were those of his countrymen who would never plow a field, or row a boat, or build a home, or raise a family. He wanted stability and prosperity for Tai, not bloodshed.

:It cannot be helped,: he thought regretfully as he carefully and closely monitored the situation.

He needed to win his kingdom back so that he could bring Tai into the light of Heaven once again. If there were those who denied his rightful appointment as ruler of this land then it was his job to bring peace and unity to the nation by defeating them and showing them that they were in error. He hated that he had to fight his own people, but it was either that or let Tai slide into chaos, and that he would never allow while he yet held the throne. To do anything less would allow his dear taiho to court death.

:And that Royal Consort of mine...: he thought. :She has waited just as long and hopefully for me to bring peace and prosperity as Taiki has.:

He would be an ungrateful man indeed if he failed to show her the peaceful, prosperous nation that she and his taiho had worked so hard to attain.

:A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and as single steps go, this one is not a stumble so far.:

The kuukoushi of his and the enemy camps continued their aerial skirmishing while Gyousou's ships continued to bombard the sea-wall of the kaitou fortress and the troop stationed at the landward gates and the day dragged on. Soon the sun slipped slowly beneath the horizon and Gyousou signaled to his aerial messenger that the land-troops should withdraw from the siege proper ostensibly to wait until morning.

:It was a daymoon today so the moonlight will not last for the whole night,: Gyousou thought.

Indeed, as the twilight faded to full night the moon was already at its zenith in the sky, the light of it filtering down through the sea of clouds. A very very light dusting of snow drifted down from the misty-sparse cloud cover and the temperature continued to drop. Gyousou could see his own breath and it reminded him of other seemingly interminable winter campaigns he had waged in other provinces all over Tai. The light of the moon was not the only light in the sky, the wicker-soaked catapult shot burned golden, arcing through the sky toward the fortress like miniature suns to flash outward on impact. Burning tails of fire flowed out behind them, lingering in the air before their final landing.

As the moon continued to drift toward the western horizon the kuukoushi broke of their sorties against one another due to waning visibility. There was no starlight filtering down through the Sea of Clouds and the sea was a dark mirror. There was no moonlight dancing on the surface of the water to tell one from the other so if it were not for the golden arcs of the fireballs then it would have felt like they were floating suspended in dark space.

A cover scout kuukoushi, one with a black mount with its rider dressed in black, flying the imperial flag, flew in low to the water, its wingtips flicking the crests of wavelets as the wind picked up a little and the flier was forced to adjust its course to correct for it. The archers kept their weapons trained on it but did not fire, even as it alighted in the clear space on the army's flagship. He spoke the necessary pass codes to confirm his identity and came before his general and knelt to make his report.

"The Army of the Left is delaying their true final push as you commanded, Your Majesty."

Gyousou nodded once in acknowledgment.

"Complications?" he inquired.

"The walls are sturdier than we had thought they would be, as is the gate," the scout messenger reported.

"It seems the shuukou of Ba Province is not a complete fool,”Gyousou replied. “Or Asen has had a stronger foothold here than we had originally assumed. I noted what looked like new capstones and facing on the walls. The reinforcements have been reinforced, a wise decision for a commander. Are there any obstructions to the harbors?"

"You mean aside of the two harbor cliff walls on either side being booby-trapped with boulder-falls and ringed with archers besides?" the messenger replied.

Gyousou noticed that he was a very young one, so he graciously let the tone and commentary slide. He could ask his commander to say a word to him later on, not an official reprimand of course, but just a polite notice about it.

"Besides that," Gyousou agreed.

"The ramp-way is slicked with ice and the sleds have been brought up to the top so there will be no easy troop movement that way."

"I had assumed such and included that in my plans," Gyousou nodded. "Have you anything further?"

"The camp received this for you earlier."

The aerial scout and messenger extended a scroll tube sealed with the seal of the Army of the Right under General Risai. She was currently in the mountains on the other side of Zui Province, laying a delaying siege to the forces at those heavily armored fortresses there.

Gyousou had asked that she not order her troops to attempt to actively engage, but to be just enough of a nuisance to keep those forts occupied with the bulk of ba Province's forces. Tai's former general had reasoned that Asen had figured that Gyousou would march on those heavily defended fortresses that were nearest to Zui Province (and thus to the capitol city of Kouki) first in order to eradicate some of the martial threat closest to Zui Province. Gyousou had instead sent a portion of his troops to create a ruse that he was playing into Asen's plans while he and the majority of his forces circled around to take Ba Province from the coastline using the navy. Kaitou fortress was the first move in that. He planned to quickly take the fortress , set up a small peacekeeping force to secure it then march inwards to take the next two strategic locations in the next week, then it would be on to the provincial capitol to depose (and possibly decapitate) the Provincial Governor if he proved obdurate in wearing out his stay when Gyousou had specifically commanded that he should leave.

The letter was the first of her reports to him, it detailed that her armies had arrived at the gates of the three fortresses that Ba Province had set up to guard the only three mountain passes in the range that separated Ba and Zui Province (and hence the only ways through for either side). She was besieging the first of the fortresses, the one closest to Kouki, and her two most competent captains were besieging the other two fortresses. They had plans to keep them busy for as long as their king needed them to, though Risai was a bit saddened that she would not be taking place in the reconquista proper.

:Oh don't worry General, you'll get your chance to bring your sword in the fight before all of this is through,: Gyousou thought with a bit of grim resignation.

This was only the starting maneuvers after all. They hadn't reached mid-game and were no-where near endgame. Unless Asen (or, Heaven for fend, he) should make a fatal error that would give away a game-winning advantage, there was still a great deal of time.

Gyousou paced the bridge a little to keep his body warm while he waited. At about three hours after moonset, he ordered that the trebuchets should fire one of the special shot prepared for the occasion. Instead of flaming ans spreading flames on impact, these one were made only to create a lot of smoke. As they hit Gyousou watched the air around the sea-ward side of the fortress fill with smoke, bringing an already uncertain visibility right down to zero. The smoking artillery was the signal for the soldiers to man the real boats and drop quietly into the water and row for the harbor.

Under cover of smoke and moonlight Gyousou mounted Keito, who had under duress and with a great deal of protest allowed herself to be dyed fully black, a flew low over the sea toward land. Boat after boat filled with soldiers rowed to teh harbor. An advance team of scouts on kijyuu went ahead and shot out the guards stationed to give warning to the fort when the harbor defenses were breached. Gyousou heard no warning bell as he landed on the beach-head so he and the others of the advance party set to triggering the net and boulder traps to that his men would not have any unpleasant surprises when they rowed the bulk of Gyousou's land forces into the harbor to come up from the other side.

He should have been staying back on the ship and leaving the frontal charge to his captains and other frontlinemen but this was his kingdom too and he wanted to at least be part of the opening battle. Besides his men would take greater heart if their king was fighting alongside them.

:And perhaps the opposition will realize that they are making a colossal mistake and surrender once they know it is me,: he thought hopefully.

He didn't really put any stock in that hope however, Asen had had too much time to spread misinformation and brainwash his troops while Gyousou had been asleep.

He and his troops strapped on their cleats and started up the ramp that would take them up to the main flatland and the backdoor of the fortress. He could hear the sound of the siege renewing itself as he had ordered them to on the land-ward side of the fort. Flaming artillery continued to pound from the seaward side and the darkness and smoke were too thick for the fortress scouts to see him and his men creeping around to the harbor gate until it was too late. His archers took out the poor sods manning the sentry posts and they fell without a noise to warn of Gyousou's approach.

The king gave the signal and a volley of grappling hooks sailed up through the smoke to take purchase on the wall. Ground archers laid in cover fire against what few forces belatedly realized that ther flank was now being attacked as well. His troops scaled the walls like particularly voracious carpenter ants and made mincemeat of the forts inner defenses while a spacial strike team fought thier way around the walls to the gate-tower, slaughtered the guards inside, and opened the gates for to let his landward cavalry in.

The surrender was a mere formality after that.

:What is that phrase the Royal Consort uses in situations like this? Ah yes... I love it when a plan comes together,: Gyousou thought smugly


End file.
